requesting team? >> speakers who are opposed to the project. >> hello, thank you for this opportunity to speak and i'd like to thank michael smith for acknowledging my letter that i sent to him. my name is gary narimore, i have lived in san francisco, worked in san francisco for 4 years. i have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years. i have walked lampson lane and all the blocks around my neighborhood almost daily, i have enjoyed watching construction and remodels in the neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the tastefulness that's been done to date. when i saw the scope of this project and this huge box that

was going to replace what is currently there, it was just unimaginable to me. i'm not objecting to the addition of a second unit, i think i'm all for -- i'm not anti-growth, i think development there is reasonable, but the current scope and size of this thing and the footprint is just beyond my imagination and i respectfully request that as proposed this be denied. thank you. >> thank you. any further speakers? >> good evening, commissioners, my name is jued igt lamb, i am speaking for the eureka valley association planning and land use committee. we have an interest in this project, we are quite concerned about preserving the small scale family nature of the eureka valley hill side and

this is an example of what is happening kind of piecemeal in eureka valley where projects that are out of scale with the neighborhood, with the context, are proposed. and we have managed to get some scale back and we certainly hope you are going to scale this one back as well. i notice this is put before you as an abbreviated dr, that is very hard for me to understand. you can see how much concern there is in the neighborhood about this. we do consider it to be exceptional, extraordinary and we think it's emblematic of what's happening and we would like you to weigh in on this, we would like you to take dr and weigh in and scale this project back. thank you very much. >> thank you. any further

speakers? >> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is david myer, i live at 4565 19th street and i agree with all the dr requesters and what they have said and i wanted to add one more observation of my own about the proposal. the sponsor and the planning department have noted a second dwelling unit is being added in this expansion. since we are in dire need of additional housing in the city, one might perhaps be inclined to gifr the sponsor a break on size. however, i question whether this is a genuine attempt to introduce quality housing. as the second dwelling consists of a basement studio space which the architect claims is 656 square feet, already quite small, but upon measuring the actual square footage from their drawings, one finds that it consists of only 570 square

feet and the area i am speaking of is outlined in red here. the unit is separated from the main unit only by a pocket door, the only natural light is a sliding glass door which looks on to a path to be used as a rear entrance to the main unit and to the deck over the garage occupied by the residents of the main unit. i support second units in our rh2 district, but i wonder whether this space will ever be used as a second unit. it appears much more similar to the large media room associated with the unit upstairs. thank you. >> thank you. additional speakers in support of the dr okay, seeing none, project

sponsor. >> good afternoon, my name is carolyn powell and i am the property owner. first i would like to thank the commissioners for the opportunity to speak today. i'd also like to thank michael smith and others in the planning department for investing a significant amount of resources into getting us prepared to be here today. my primary goals in purchasing the house at 4546 19th street were first to stay close to the neighbors who have become a part of my family. i have lived in this neighborhood, specifically in a house diagonally behind the subject property, for 17 years. i have looked at this home out my rear window for the past 17 years. if we could have the slides, thank you. this is the neighborhood and the subject property is the first one after the canadian flag and you can see multiple

styles of architectural nature within the neighborhood. my view from my rear window that i've been looking at for the past 17 years, if i could have the overhead projector on -- overhead projector, please -- has given me the opportunity to watch 4 houses in a row be developed behind my home. these 4 houses right along here have all been developed in the past several years and you can see the pattern of large homes all the way up the street. the subject property is this small home right here. i originally set out to remodel the home that i currently live in on castelli avenue. that home is 100 years old now, it's an edwardan arts and crafts home, it still has

original cove ceilings, lagt and plaster, stained glad exterior and i did not have the heart to tear the pages out of this 100 year old book, as well as one of the city planners who was working with us at the time wisely suggested that we reevaluate the project. i was so pleased when i was able to buy the run-down home diagonally behind me based on the development of the next 4 houses up the street i believed i had a road map to follow. we met with architects and the planning department and found an excellent opportunity to improve a distressed property. thus began our journey that led us to today. the first people i met with were the neighbors on either side. i wanted to understand their concerns and worked to minimize the impact of my project. jackie, who had lived 80 homes in the house to the east expressed appreciation for the set back on her side which would provide light in afternoons. i expected the

canadian kaupbs consulate would have concerns about the views. i commissioned solar studies -- where am i -- window studies, view studies from multiple angles, lighting studies, as many study sz as were asked for we did because i was trying to address the concerns of my neighbors. i love my neighborhood, i care about my neighbors and that's why i have worked so hard to address their concerns and stay in this neighborhood. i'm not trying to create waves, i'm not trying to create a mcmansion, i'm try to go create a home that fits within the size and scale of the neighborhood and keeps these neighbors that i want to stay living by happy. i'd like to now introduce my team to present the rest of the project. .

>> thank you, carolyn, jeremy paul on behalf of the project sponsor. i want to quickly run down through some of the residential design guidelines issues. if we can go to the computer please i want to talk to you about this request for discretionary review. this is a photograph taken from bruno's window showing his view towards downtown and to the east. you see two of the houses that were recently redone and expanded directly across the street from him and the canadian consulate which was also subject to a significant expansion and remodel several years ago. this is a rendering of the new house as it will appear from bruno's window. it is at the sidewalk, it is to the scale of the neighborhood, and it fits within the context of what the residential design guidelines expects of a corner lot. now, this is a corner property and the variance was granted to

the canadian consulate for their expansion to the rear considering it a corner lot as well. and it's important to view it in context of a corner lot. the green diamond is carolyn's current property, the square is this house on lampson lane. the residential design guidelines which you are very familiar with suggesting emphasis of development on corner properties so this is the house on the opposite corner of the block. this is the quintessential corner house development , this is knobby parks folly, this is the corner of 19 *lt and douglas. so the corner lots are intended to be emphasized and the visual character of the block is intended to be followed. now, this is what the

residential design guidelines shows as a mixed visual character and you can see going up the block that we have an almost picture-perfect example of a mixed visual character. the highest house up the block, the one that's about 45 feet at the flat roof point, that is one of the dr requesters that looks directly across us. this is back to that perspective. so the question is, does this project meet the requirements necessary to take dr i think not. the addition is code complying, the portion of the project that requires a variance is essentially underneath the grade and will create more open space when this project is done than exists currently. all up the block you can see the development up to 4th lane,

that these houses going all the way up on 19th street have developed their rear yards in such a way that there's very little usable open space and if you'll take a look at the plans before you, you'll see a project that really contributes to usable open space on this property. the yellow house in the center is the canadian consulate, the small gray house next to it is the existing property on the other side of lampson. this photograph is taken from carolyn's back window, so this is what she sees looking out of her house now. and, again, the canadian consulate and the houses going up the block. you see this is a well-established pattern of development following the broader neighborhood context guidelines suggested by the residential design guidelines. and this is an illustration intended to show the relative floor area ratios of the houses, show that this is not a

new high point of massivity in any sense. we're the farthest property to the right showing that we are right in the middle as far as the size goes, the three houses up. there's a house that is several hundred square feet larger than this and they all open up on to lampson and thorpe at the rear and all have a garage at the rear. i'm going to let, give the rest of this time to the project architect who can tell you a bit more of the house, a bit more of the story of the way this was designed, but i think you'll find this is a very well designed project that is in context with the property and addresses the residential design guidelines. >> hi, thank you for your time, my name is ian reed, i'm the project architect for the house at 4546 19th street and

i'd like to talk about the process we went through leading up to the final project. it was an over two-year project, rdt with the neighbors and real study of the neighborhood context. this is a brief narrative of the designer vision we went through showing day one up through where we reside today and you can see there's been a great many renditions. starting about halfway through that yard you can see where we started working with the rdt and that was really a moment where we were able to approach them and have a good dialogue about what they deemed appropriate for the neighborhood and what concerns we could take into account to make sure we built with as much, as light a hand as possible. ultimately, i'll just run true some slides and show you where we have arrived with the house's two-story feature at the front, maintaining recessed entry way at the front, trying to minimize the impact of a third floor while not completely reducing it, a rear yard that's sympathetic to lampson lane, also creates flat outdoor space

for the owner. wie also looked at massing and materials and really recrating a property that would have a warm feel, we built a modern house and we're going to keep it warm and friendly to the neighborhood. thank you for your time. >> time's up. >> okay, now opening it to public comment for speakers in support of the project. greg kleiner, john woodward, elizabeth mcdermot and claudia colasso >> good afternoon, or actually good evening, my name is greg kleiner and i am the neighbor immediately behind the project, i live immediately behind the project, i have been there 21 years, known carolyn for every moment she has lived in her house which she says is 17 years. carolyn has been very good about keeping us up to date about what the proposed changes are, has been very receptive to

making changes proposed by us and other people in terms of the size and scope of this project. it is no different than any of the houses that have been built, in fact it's much more tastefully designed than any of the projects that went up, unlike a project that went up next to me which was a spec house, they simply put things in and i had to go in and fight every day at planning to get things removed including illegal windows, illegal doors. this project, she's followed all the guidelines and complied, i believe, with all the requirements of the city codes and i am confident that unlike someone who is building a spec house, here we will get a neighbor and retain a neighbor that will be in keeping with the character and size and mass of the property and i strongly encourage this commission to approve this project. thank you for your time. >> thank you. next speaker. >> good evening, i'm john woodward, my wife and i live next door to carolyn at 61

castelli, to give perspective, we're on the alley, we look directly to the south to the 3 brand new houses that have been totally remodeled. this would be the fourth in a row of houses. it's hard for me to stand here and see my neighbors not getting along but i think when you see the changes in the neighborhood, and we have lived there 25 years, it gets very emotional. this is different from the other four that have been completed in the last five years in that this is the only one that has come to us in advance and seriously asked for our input. and what's more, made major modifications in the plans and been sensitive. this is also the only one that's come forward and wanted to live in it. the others were flippers or were contracts for people that didn't live in the neighborhood. i think that carolyn has bent

over backwards, perhaps not pleasing everyone, but making major modifications and keeping the style of the proposal in the context and consistent with at least the three houses immediately adjacent to her on 19th street. and my wife and i reviewed those plans because we're going to have to look up at that house every day and we are absolutely comfortable with what she's proposing and how it's consistent with how the neighborhood has evolved over the last decade. so we're cool. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello, my name is claudia carosso and i'm here to speak on behalf of carolyn powell, more to her character and the type of neighbor and person and her contribution to the san francisco xhuepbtd. -- community. i think that's important as you weigh the

evidence to make this decision. carolyn is a valued san franciscoan and she is an important member of our community. i am a 22-year resident of san francisco, i've been a home owner in the mission district and a member of the liberty hill neighborhood association and i know that carolyn powell is extremely invested in seeing not only her neighborhood flourish but this city flourish. carolly, one shining example of this is her support of the women's initiative for self-employment, of which i am a board member, she and i served together on the women's initiative. she has been a supporter of buding women entrepreneurs, this program that helps low income women start their own businesses and rise, get themselves out of poverty and achieve economic independence. carolyn has played a critical role not only in providing mentorship and her business expertise but also providing financial contributions to that organization and has been a leader in that organization. she also has been actively involved in other organizations, the horizons

foub daition, a local chapter of the aha, quality california, lambda legal, the national center for lesbian rights, in addition she is a major supporter of the did he young museum, san francisco symphony and the police officer organization. so this is a very serious san francisco citizen. but also on the professional front carolyn is a bio medical professional, she has just had a medical device approved by the fda and was designed in conjunction with professors from ucsf despite the fact her work took her down to the pen nepbs sla she remained a devoted san franciscoan, she stayed in the city, she continued to pay her taxes, she dedicated her time to the many san francisco organizations i just mentioned. finally, home to carolyn is not just san francisco, it's

specifically the eureka valley where she knows every street, every side running site and every dog friendly zone. she wants to stay in the eureka valley where her neighbors have become dear friends where she is often the first to help those in need. she is trying to create a new home for herself in the neighborhood to which she has dedicated her life. thank you and i hope you will approve her application and let her stay in this city. thank you. >> my name is elizabeth mcdermott and thank you for hearing me speak today. i would like to give voice to those neighbors who have written letters but were unable to be here this afternoon. all of these neighbors reside in the neighboring block. the first is juliet, who is 90 years old and takes these proceedings very brief. dear president fond and mr.

smith, i have been a resident here more than 90 years. i live 4 houses up the hill from 4546. i know the house and know it needs to be fixed up. i also nope the owner and know what she is proposing. the house is similar in size to other homes in our block and i am pleased it extends back only as far as the house uphill from it. i support the plan she is currently proposing. next is a letter from mr. jay allen. dear mr. fong and commissioner, i have reviewed the proposed addition at 4546 19th street. i use thorpe lane daily. appropriate for the site and the neighborhood. the neighborhood has an incredibly broad mix of architectural styles and this

proposal, which is tasteful and attractive, is quite similar in style to at least two remodels recently completed. it appears to me the only neighbors who are requesting discretionary review of the project and are frankly agitating many others not really in the neighborhood are those who are concerned with how it will impact their view. while they may claim the proposed structure is inconsistent with others in the neighborhood or that it is too large, their real concern is their view. walk 19th street and you will see the diversity of styles and sizes and the similar structures recently completed. despite the thin veil over their real concerns, carolyn has gone out of her way to work with the neighbors and spent over a year modifying the design. frankly, many other property owners would not have demonstrated carolyn's patience although i am not surprised, i have known carolyn for many years and she is a wonderful individual who has listened, made accommodations and worked in good faith with the neighborhood to arrive at the current plan. please approve this project as proposed.

carolyn's new home will be a significant improvement to what is currently on the lot and she has made enough changes. for brevity i cannot read all the letters by the 11 neighbors on the block that have been submitted, they all make similar points but have the common themes that the house fitness style and the neighborhood, she has been considerate to the changes making changes to her plans to address their needs and they respectfully request you approve the project as proposed. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> hello, my name is alex schroeder and i live at 4534 19th street, two doors to the east of the subject property. i have also looked at the plans through the various stages and have seen accommodations made

to the neighbors' requests. being to the east certainly i appreciate the changes that carolyn made, although i did not request any. specifically she has pulled the building back so on the western side at certain elevations it is equal with the canadian consulate building on the opposite side of that alleyway called lamp sun lane and on the eastern side she has also pulled the building back at certain elevations to match the furthest point out on the building immediately to the eastern side. i think also in front she has pulled the building back 15 feet and those are sort of the usual and common changes to a proposed architecture so it doesn't have overbearing scale. and looking at the pictures i appreciate

the effort and the outcome of the architectural rendering and i, too, have a -- this shows what you've seen already. some of the newer buildings, the canadian consulate and then two others but then some of the buildings that haven't been remodeled they are also in height very high. it is a down slope lot and the other picture here shows my house, i'm two doors to the east, and immediately to the east of my house is a building that also is very tall in scale. so i think the way that the setbacks were created in the front and in the back both setbacks in the back forward and setbacks from the sidelines of the property inward help bring this into an appropriate scale and

address many of the concerns. along the alley she has created a relief for plantings as well as set back on top of the garage, a fence structure as such, i think it says 28 seconds, i'm not sure which is right, the buzzer or me. probably me. and the garage also, it's interesting, the last 16 feet of her property or in the last 16 feet of the two neighbors easterly, of which i am one, we have an easement that affects only our 3 properties that gives access to the immediate eastern neighbor and then one further over, that would be me, access to the back of our property --. >> thank you, sir, your time is up. >> it's not a general turn around parking area. thank you. >> thank you.

>> good evening, commissioners, my name is patrick buskovich, i was retained two years ago on this house and during the last two years this project went from a de facto demolition to remodel so i'm quite taken aback that people have said that this project is big. during my tenure it's been scaled down dramatically to now --. >> are you part of the project team? are you the engineer for the project? >> i was the engineer doing the soundness report but there is no longer a soundness report because there is not a demolition. >> you are not retained by the owner, though. >> when i was retained this house needed over $300,000 worth of work. during this hearing no one said it but it was in the dr briefs that this is an affordability issue. no one said it today because that's ridiculous. my family all lives within a thousand yards of this house. we own

about 6 residences here. we're natives of the city. if you look up this alley you will see probably the smallest house in the neighborhood, which is earthquake shack no. 26. it's not skewed. the problem with this house, and it has a fundamental problem, when they installed the siding they basically condemned this house to need major rehab because they trapped the water in this house over the last 30 years so this house needs substantive work. it's not affordable and when i was retained, this was a dramatically bigger project that over the course of the work with planning it's been reduced to a point where it's a remodel. thank you. >> thank you. any further speakers in support? >> my name is sky lane again,

i worked with ian reed when they were going through the process with the design review team and the neighbor cooperation and i just wanted to speak to that process a bit. this project really started with the design guidelines for corner property. the landmark status of a corner property and developed over two years working directly from the very beginning, from the conceptual stages right here, with both the planning department, the neighbors and the rdt, and you can see how the scale of the building really started to shift over that process and the architects took both the comments of the rdt and the neighbors into account and in that process were able to get of the de