we can actually have a better sustaining -- you know, always seeking for funding, so we can start making our own money, and it's because of whole foods that did that. more importantly, they are in the program where they actually come and visit us on-site. you know, they come to our events, they -- they help out in the events, they are joining our advisory board, so they really have been a very intricate part of the primed and prepped program. and the beauty about this is when my students graduate from the program, they get internships here in the hotels in san francisco, and for the first time -- because they start off at 14 years old. yesterday, one of my students is now a full-time employee at the fairmont hotel, and they just honored him with three years of service and it's because of people like whole foods who help us grow the program, so please, be nice. thank you. >> president hillis: we're always nice.

thank you, miss armstrong. >> good afternoon again, commissioners. i'm -- kind of story for you for sitting there for hours and hours, and i want to congratulate you for doing a good job. again, my name is rudy, and i'm the former executive director of west bay. and for nine years, every thursday afternoon, i would distribute food to the seniors and world war ii veterans that was donated to us by whole foods. whole foods is an excellent corporate community partners, and i support them, but more importantly, the neighborhood really needs some healthy food and healthy grocery stores. you know, we -- we have -- we have so many bigger stores and smoke shops in the area, and i'm just happy that they're going to be there and that they're going to be providing healthy foods. i hope you support this

project. thank you very much. >> president hillis: thank you. i'll call some more names. tiffany fuller, susanna rozzo, ramon castillo, caterina winay. >> good afternoon. my name is tiffany fuller. i am a san francisco native and a full-time employee at the soma location. i have been working for the company for about 1.5 years. i first got hired at l.a. so how i came to work for whole foods is kind of a funny story? so i'm walking down. my phone is dieing, and i'm panicked because i literally need directions from here to there. i cannot -- i need my phone at all times. so i am, like, where am i going to go? am i going to go to star bucks? no, they're going to make me pay. am i going to go to target? no, i'm probably going to buy something. so i go to whole foods, because

they probably have outlets, and sure enough, they have outlets, and they have wifi. and this girl comes up to me, tattoos, and skinny jeans, so l.a. and she's like, are you here for an interview? and i'm like no. and she walks away, and i said wait, i'm basically been eating dollar tacos for the last six months. yes, i'm here for the interview. i worked at a different grocery store, and the relationships were not the same. it was an us versus them kind of mentality. i didn't feel comfortable with talking about things were better, experience for customers or even asking for a couple of days to ask to go see

beyonce in concert, but whole foods, it's a family. yes, these are my managers, but they're team leaders, and what that means is you're going to help me bag $500 worth of yogurt just as well as a spill, but you're also my boss. so i love working for whole foods, i love my job, and i think this is a great project because it brings jobs into this neighborhood. i come from a neighborhood where you have to go -- you have to pass 8 mcdonald's and a gas stations just to get your food. because i think you can shop and you can eat and you can have fresh food, so i hope you say yes, i hope you approve it, and thank you. >> president hillis: all right. thank you, miss fuller. next speaker, please.

>> my name is lourdes fuller, and i'm here to represent jobs of justice in san francisco. so ma -- [inaudible] >> many of these would be permanent entry level jobs, ideal for the surrounding community members to improve their economic well-being. we understand that whole food has said they will comply with the requirements of the city's first source hiring program, but it is not yet willing to work with the community to

ensure good jobs for those in the community who need employment the most. first source can be very challenging for community members to navigate and contains little in terms of concrete requirements. the result is few of the community members we work with wind up employed through the first source program, supporting workers to have good jobs in san francisco requires more robust conversations and agreements. we believe this whole foods store presents an excellent opportunity to support the local community and make the neighborhood stronger, but only if whole foods is willing to step up and engage in meaningful conversations with the community groups, including somcan, soma filipinas, and jobs for justice. since whole foods has not done this, we respectfully ask you to delay voting on this until

hearing all the community concerns. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please, mr. wu. >> hello, commissioners, david wu again with the south of market community action network. as many of you know, whole foods is no longer whole foods. the company is owned by amazon, which is run by jeff bezos, who is the world's richest man. since the take over of whole foods by amazon, the issue surrounding worker's rights has only continued to disintegrate, unfortunately. after acquiring whole foods, amazon sent out a other than i don't know busting video to whole foods managers instructing management how to better spot and squat workers attempts at unionization. labor issues related to whole foods have also been apparent in their lack of commitment to direct hiring. one example here in san francisco of whole foods lack of direct hiring commitment comes from their ocean avenue location. the proposed whole foods that's in front of you now has

similarly not made commitments regarding direct hiring. there are also issues with the size and scale of the building as it's very large for the area, and we are concerned also about the location and size of the alcohol sales section of the building. [please stand by]

>> petitions or other concerted activity such as an appropriate -- and associate reporting to speak on behalf of his coworkers when raising concerns. union graffiti, union t-shirts, hats, jackets or other clothing. union flyers and union visitors in or near the parking lot to pick some signs are less obvious than finding the union flyer but they can still indicate associate disengagement which is itself, a warning sign or potential organizing. examples include associates who normally aren't connected to each other suddenly hanging out together, associates who are close suddenly stopped speaking to each other, groups of associates scattered when approached by management, increase negativity or anger and confrontation, unusual complaints around complaints.

unusual interest or policies, benefits, employee lists or other company information or other behaviour that is out of character. and associate who normally leaves promptly begins hanging out in the break room for an hour after work each day. in order to recognize warning signs, it is critical you know what an associate normal behaviour looks like. often it is a change in behaviour that is a warning sign more than the actual behaviour itself. >> this is the video they sent to the managers to make sure that they stop workers from organizing and making sure that they stop workers from getting their right wages to fight for their rights. just keep that in mind. thank you. >> thank you. next week or please. -- next speaker, please. >> good evening commissioners. thank you for being here after hours and for allowing us to speak. i am the community organizer and campaign coordinator for soma

filipinos. i will be reading a statement on behalf of our executive director if there is time, i will give my own spiel. we respectfully, as we read continue this item allow us to have more time to work with whole foods on emotionally -- mutually agreeable agreements. especially for low income immigrant working-class residents who have been left behind in this economy. we have been in dialogue with whole foods and oewd to craft a partnership between the city, whole foods and community groups while we have had three meetings already with whole foods, there is not yet concrete commitments in the form of an m.o.u., which is important to our community. while we appreciate whole foods expressed intent to work with the community, our experience

with whole foods when their ocean store opened was that local disadvantaged workers and to the excelsior were not hired to. in fact, whole foods was not even sending job openings to oewd per the first source requirements until a month ago when we asked them about it at our meeting with oewd. besides affordable housing, access to local sustainable jobs is an important strategy to preserve community in the south of market. as a formula retail business, we want to make sure that their presence in this neighborhood will not display small businesses, and instead support local entrepreneurs. we are in conversation with them to carry filipino produced and sourced products. no concrete commitments have been made. as a community, we have had many experience of broken promises from corporations seeking to open in the cultural district. we would very much like to partner with whole foods on their proposed market store to be a good community neighbor and

partner. however, we need more time to craft agreeable and enforceable agreements to continue this item >> next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. i am reading a statement from cultivate labs. cultivate as a member of the soma filipinos and has been the lead organization and organizing undiscovered spirit they have brought over a thousand people in so much to sit celebrate arts and contribute to the economy. is a big box retailer owned by one of the largest tech companies in the world. amazon has mitigated the potential impacts they may have on our fledging small business community. we suggested they take their packaged food products from our community. they made a vague comments that perhaps would carry some of the projects if tweaks were made.

the product we are asking them to carry represent a fraction of what they carry on their -- in their store. they need to make more of a commitment to their development if they are going to be a good neighbor. we ask you to vote to continue this item until whole foods makes a real commitment in writing. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. i am a member of the project team and would like to ask the commission if it is okay to read a letter on behalf of local businesses. >> not if you are part of the project team. >> okay. >> thank you. you can submit it though. thank you. any additional public comment on this item,? come on up. >> good afternoon commissioners. again, what we are asking you is

to continue the item to give us more time to work with whole foods. before this hearing, i met with them downstairs and i think it definitely there is some interest or some unity in terms of providing jobs to the neighborhood, but the reality is , we need to see that in writing. if they are really committed to directly hiring from the community, then we want a real commitment. meaning putting that in writing to keep everyone accountable. broken promises have been an ongoing thing to our community, and it is nothing against whole foods, but we need to make sure that an agreement is created between jobs with justice and soma filipinos to ensure the most vulnerable population -- and these are people who always have a hard time getting into

jobs and who need additional support with job trading to be able to get into retail jobs, even mcdonald's jobs, because that is how much it is of a challenge for them to get into any jobs. may they be formerly homeless, or people who have been working for a long time, or they have mental health issues that they are dealing with we are asking you -- whole foods i believe it's realistic. we ask you continue this item,, and we hope that we can come to you with a more partnership, and we are not missing out on whole foods. there is a whole foods five or six blocks away from us. there is other chains. there is another whole foods by south venice. so if they want to invest and open shop in the south of market , they need to contribute

to real local hiring. and for stores, it is not enough , obviously packed like katrina said earlier, we did not know there were all these job opportunities in their seven other shops that can actually hire people. over 100 existing jobs that they are trying to hire. we could already see that they are not doing a good job in informing us of existing jobs then how could we believe that they will do that in the future? please continue the item. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. it was afternoon when i came here. my name is dena. i did fill out a card, but i don't know how the system works.

this is my first time in front of this commission, and i am really impressed with the thoroughness and the integrity that you take in looking at all the issues from all sides. i am here to represent my soon to be 94-year-old mother who has a piece of property close to the whole foods that is wanting approval from you for the use of this space. she got very excited. she has seen what whole foods has done in other communities in improving the communities and in travelling all over the united states and she said, please go down there and tell the commissioner that, just as a property owner, i have been waiting for this area to have a story like this and i am very much in support of its. i wanted to say, is a member of the community and as a san franciscan, i am very much in favor of this, and just to have

a couple of minutes, i wanted to say in regards to the action, making the entire san francisco single-family neighborhoods to go away, and become up sound, i think if something like that is ever considered, it needs to be considered for the entire bay area. it would absolutely not be fair for us to not be able to live in a single-family home in san francisco and cross the border to daily city and live in a single-family home. i just wanted to pass that on. thank you very much. >> thank you. any additional public comment on this item? >> hello. i filled out a form. my father built this project. he has been working on this project for over 30 years. if anyone knows him, he is a man who never gave up. he never gave up on the city he loved.

and a grocery store was always in his dreams and always part of it and always something we wanted with so many units in and so many other units coming up. people need a place to shop and they need a place to eat. it brings people together. we couldn't have found a better partner than whole foods. my dad was kind of a perfectionist and left quality. we are italian and love food. we have great project and great food. one of the most important thing is they have staying power. they will not go anywhere. they hope we hope this grocery store will be there forever. my mom used to say the best way to someone's hiked us through their stomach, and we are in the heart of san francisco. what a better way to bring people together in the city then through food. so i really hope you approve this. the city really needs it. the area really needs it. just people -- my dad used to say that being able to get a carton of milk and take an elevator downstairs or walk across the street is great. i used to be the crystal palace.

is anyone familiar with that, it is doing a full circle. used to be an amazing place to grocery shop in the olden days in the city. anyway, my dad his not here to see his dream finally get filled , and i hope you help that happen tonight. thank you. >> thank you. any additional public comment classy and none, we will close public comment. >> thank you. this is a different item then went away he helped us what we heard a few weeks ago. just the fourth phase of this trinity development was 504 units. suggests roughly multiply that by four. this is what we are looking for. we saw the previous item did not have housing. we asked for housing and there is only a very small amount of housing. it was on a neighborhood commercial district with mom and pop competition that we were concerned about and this is kind of the opposite of that. market and eighth are in the

middle of a very large residential development. not only for south of market but the tenderloin just across market street. we will be able to utilize the store as well. i'm in support of this today. >> commissioner richards? >> he said it better. i definitely want to support this project. it is the right place for it. is a different project then we dealt with a few weeks ago. one question i did have is if the project sponsor can get up, your local hiring, it is your fourth street store. do you look for folks that live close by? what is your process there? >> as i mentioned, i'm primarily responsible for design and development. rob might be better to speak to this. >> welcome back. [laughter] >> that is your christmas gift or your chanukah gift or whatever. >> i am the regional president for whole foods northern california.

we are actively engaged with all our communities. with fourth street, we are out there. we supervise job fairs and we are getting out into the communities. kelly armstrong spoke earlier about this. she mentioned though she did not mention we are hiring directly from prime and prepped. we are working on a curriculum development to make sure it meets the needs of the store so we can work together to bring people together from that community. we are continuing to do that and looking to engage with other organizations. we absolutely want to engage with them. but we also wanted to be equitable. we want to make sure we are working with as many organizations within the communities as possible. >> great. thanks. >> you have made -- you may have mentioned that you walk in and that *-asterisk reflects a community. i thank you find that in our stores and you see that they reflect the community in which we are in. >> commissioner fong? >> i am supportive of this project. it is very different. i'm glad to see a member of the

family here. i think your dad would be thrilled too. they be very proud to see this come round to close to completion. i will make a motion to approve but i would like to consider adding a condition that whole foods make best efforts -- may be you can help me craft something, best efforts to hire folks from the groups -- the soma groups. if there is a job fair where they can get a fast track or the ability to apply first -- >> they have to negotiate an agreement with oewd. maybe we can encourage oewd to include a neighborhood component i think there is south of market and tenderloin. does that work? they are the experts. i agree with that. >> thank you. >> commissioner moore? >> i believe that this project is exacting the vision of your father. i sat with him in his office

when he showed me certain details of how he will execute the building. i think that the size of the store, including the capacity to fill these spaces is going to be really good. we have been waiting for that for many, many years, and i think this is the right place, with the right company. >> commissioner melgar? >> okay. sorry to be the counter to this lovefest. i support a grocery store in this location. i think to the testimony today, i don't trust this company when it comes to first source local hiring and worker touch our rights. just in the paper today, there is an incident here involving a worker in san francisco. it is pretty egregious. i would rather not vote on it until we have something from the community that involves oewd. there is no one here from oewd.

i am generally supportive of a grocery store at this location. but i am not ready to vote on it today. >> i agree with that sentiment. i agree it is a little bit chicken and oewd are the experts on negotiating. i think food and grocery stores are are critical to neighborhoods. that is why i supported the one on polk street. i think i went down to trader joe's in the westfield and it was incredibly crowded because we need supermarkets, and they are critical to making neighborhoods and communities. i'm strongly supportive and i trust the folks at oewd to negotiate a strong first source agreements. that will have to be enforced over years, not even what is put into paper tomorrow. it has to ultimately continue to be enforced. i do think that whole foods does a pretty good job of reflecting the neighborhood that they are in with employees, and with the

selection of products that they have. i am encouraging, with certainly we -- the city has to do its work on the labor side. i am supportive today. >> commissioner richards? >> it is a question i would add to the motion, may be a year from now after the store opens we have a memo that shows the agreement and how people are hiring against it just so we understand for the next whole foods to come that we are able to trust. >> i would be amenable to that. >> great. >> all right, jonas? >> there is a motion that has been seconded to approve this matter with conditions as amended first to encourage oewd to forge an appropriate first source hiring contract that would focus on local hiring, and then a memo -- >> more specifically, neighborhood hiring in the

tenderloin and south of market. >> very good. and the second being that any memo to include what that contract -- >> one year after opening okay. on that motion -- [roll call] >> so moved. that motion passes unanimously. that will place us under the discretionary review calendar. 202,515th avenue. discretionary review. if anyone is here for item 16, that item has been continued until january 21st. >> good afternoon, planning commission.

i am the southwest team leader filling in for david winslow, representing the department. the item before you is a public initiated discretionary review for building permit 216120545 to construct a third story vertical and horizontal rear addition to an existing 2600 square-foot square foot two story single-family residence. this lack of -- it was a stucco clad single-family house set back from the street with side setbacks. there is an extremely consistent alignment of buildings at the rear yard that creates a midblock open space. the proposed three-story edition extends from 10 feet with the adjacent neighbors to the south. the vertical addition is set back 18 feet from the front and

6 feet from the rear, 3 feet from the north side property line. the reasons for the discretionary review was the neighbor to the south had concerns on impacts to sunlight, the vertical addition was blocked would block sunlight to their roof, preventing full use of future plans. it impacted the privacy with the location of decks and windows for the proposed project and it would allow direct views to the residence. this is not under the jurisdiction, however, the planning department, since the initial request, they have brought up the safety rules respect to the sloped building pega site slopes more than 20%. -- the site slopes more than 20%

horizontal or vertical additions involving 500 square feet of new projected roof area showing him detained reigning including excavation of 50 cubic yards of earth. none of these conditions are being exceeded. to date, the department has received 16 offerors of opposition and no letters in support. the department has reviewed the project with respect to privacy and safety and sound. the proposed project is currently have solar panels. while it is unclear what the effects of the proposed addition may have on yet to be designed feature -- future solar panels, they are not protected by state law. doing so would allow them to act as de facto impediments to developments. the rear deck is set back 4 feet

from the south property line. 3 feet from the north property line. the deck at the front is located at the center of the building and set back and located sufficiently away from the neighboring buildings. since the d.r. was filed, the project sponsors met with the d.r. requester and made several modifications to the project to address concerns and they are included -- they have included privacy to the rear deck removing them and minimizing side windows and pushing the front deck guard guardrails further away from the neighbors. asbestos removal is strictly regulated by the state, and overseen by the department of building inspection and not the planning department. the planning department recommends the commission approved the project. the project sponsor has subsequently provided an

additional -- has done some additional modifications for the project. i think the architect can explain those further, but they have been including nav you on the lower level, and i will let the project sponsor architect explained that. that concludes my presentation. thank you. >> thank you. d.r. requester? or his representative. >> i will be using the overheads my name is eileen. i am the d.r. requester. they have asked me to speak on his behalf. the project site was purchased in september 2016. it has been vacant ever since. at the same time, the property across the street has also been vacant. this property has had an incident of sponsors this year. for the 200 to 2515 avenue, when

a neighbor asked the owner why the project site was vacant, responses were that it had been purchased as an investment. the timing and the design seemed to confirm this. the permit application was filed shortly after the project was purchased. the design presented by him at the preapplication meeting had five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a living room, family room, entertainment room, and a wine cellar. it would almost double the space of the current residence. the proposed project is more consistent with a monster home and a speculative project. when the d.r. was filed, issues of privacy and asbestos were described. although it was not stated specifically in the d.r., the underlining concern regarding privacy is the third story vertical addition. this third story vertical addition was stated specifically in a petition signed by 16

neighbors opposing the project. this petition is included in the commissioner commissioner's package. as there was -- as there is no third story vertical addition on this block, this would be an exceptional and extraordinary circumstance. although it was not stated specifically in the d.r., the underlining issue -- underlying issue for asbestos is a perceived lack of full disclosure. on existing elevations, the north park south pop and west exposures pack no materials are noted. in a meeting on september 21st to the 25th, the architect claimed he was not sure if the south and west exposures were asbestos. in response to the architect's claim, the requester hired a specialty. based on a site inspection from the d.r. requester's side of the property, the assessment is that it was asbestos siding. a subsequent issue is the

determination did not trigger a geotechnical report. this is in contrast to the d.r. requester's project request in 2012. even though his project was less than a 400 square foot addition, the department required a geotechnical report. the cover sheet for that is on the overhead. the report stated a slope of five and a half ratio and recommended appearing to be used in the expansion. it also noted sandy soil with bedrock 30 feet below. on the overhead to, the first photo is a project site taken from the back alley. it is looking up hill. it shows the slope. the second photo shows the slope from the end of the block. the d.r. hearing was originally scheduled for october 11th.

the project sponsor requested the continuance and a revised hearing date of september 20th the d.r. requester agreed to both of these, however, the project sponsor only contacted the d.r. requester on september 12th, after 5:00 pm, to schedule a meeting. based on the timing and other factors, the offer to meet was perceived to be disingenuous. trying to rush the last minute negotiations when the owners and neighbors needed to come to a consensus was perceived to be bad business. the d.r. requester has three asks. to eliminate the third story vertical addition in favor of an expanded horizontal addition, a geotechnical report, and a requirement for asbestos abatement. thank you for your attention. i'm available to answer any questions. >> okay. we may have some buffers we will take public comment in support of the d.r. -- we may have some

but first we will take public comment in support of the d.r. seeing none, popped -- project sponsor? >> good evening, commissioners. i live close by to this building on the north side. i don't want to talk too much because it is really late, but i opposed the project. please consider this. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> any additional comment? seeing none, project sponsor? where did he go?

>> go ahead. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is freda wong and i am the owner of the property. my husband and i have been living in san francisco since the district -- in the district, for over 30 years. we started in college, we got married, and we started our family, and now we have my daughter, vivian, and my son, herman. all of us are living in the sunset district for all these years. my kids went to school here in sunset from preschool until high school. we love our community.

mark and i are both the only child and our family. we have no siblings. as our parents are getting older , they are all over 85 now. we feel the need of taking care of my family, my parents, and his parents, so that is the plan that we bought the house at 15 th avenue. we bought at 15th avenue because we have a bigger dream. a dream of combining all three generations under the same roof so we can take care of each other. for my mother, she has been with me since day one, and my mother is the only person taking care of me since day one. it is my time to reward back all her work all these years.

my mother recently just had knee surgery because of bad arthritis now she is able to walk and i want to take care of my mother for the rest of her life. so the big plan is we built this house and we will have privacy for every single part of our family, at the same time, we will share the common area and enjoy the family time together. we sincerely hope that the commissioners will listen to our needs and help us approve the plan. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, president tell us, and commissioners. ryan patterson for the project sponsors. this is a project for a family in the neighborhood who has been here for decades. they practice dentistry in chinatown for decades. these are not flippers, they are here for their family. the project is completely code compliant and now includes a no waiver a.d.u. that is being added. it is going from three beds to

four bedrooms plus a one bed a.d.u. which is a quality a.d.u. , on like some that you see. there have been a few neighbor concerns stated. sunlight, privacy, views and as best as shingles. the neighbor to the north is concerned about shadow on his hypothetical future unbilled solar panels. we don't see any impact on these northern nonexistent solar panels, but to the extent that there could be in the future, my clients have committed to paying up to $5,000 of the cost to elevate the solar panel so they catch more sunlight. on the privacy issue, they are concerned about decks looking -- a deck in the rear looking backwards into the adjacent homes, but if i can have a computer, please, you will see here this is the d.r. requester

's deck, which extends beyond the project sponsor site and looks into the adjacent neighbor's homes. so we happen though she is complaining about something that he already does. you can see the second photo, this is looking into our windows the other neighborhood that spoke has the same thing and has a deck that beyond stage extends beyond the numbers and looks backwards into our homes into the other neighbors i would note that the neighbor to the north is doing a construction project and has done significant work to this deck without permits. i can show you there are no permanent records active here. the views are not protected under code, i do not see any loss of views.

the neighbor across the street is 80 feet away. there will not be much excavation. is already a basement level here is best to shingle remove -- removal, we have already committed in the plans. thank you for your time. >> thank you. as they are public comment in support of the project? >> i do have -- is their public comment in support of the comic -- of the project? >> d.r. requester, you have a two minute rebuttal. >> i think that based on the claim by the owners themselves to the neighbors several years ago, and that this site has sat vacant for several years and is the second house on the block that is vacant, they, once in a wild to do something. they are, for the most part, not fair. they live -- not there.

they live in another location and the neighbors are concerned as to why they didn't rent it out. there are a number of different issues a call into question the fact that this is going to be a residence rather than a speculative project. five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a living room, entertainment room, a family room, a wine cellar, it is not typical of a family residence. it is typical of a monster home, and a typical flipping that you see in other parts of the city. the project sponsor says they have lived in the sunset for many years. this is actually golden gate heights. it is a very desirable location. it has a spectacular view, and having that third story vertical addition would be an asset, and a resale price, and also the fact that there is no third story vertical addition on this block. i think that that is the issue.

and e-mail came at 10:45 am from the project sponsor's attorney saying that they had modifications. i personally haven't seen it, but issuing an e-mail several hours before a meeting is questionable. i would urge the committee to accept the d.r. we have a majority of the people on that block who support the d.r. and we are willing to work the d.r. requester -- the d.r. requester is willing to work on a design that does not have a third floor vertical addition. >> thank you. project sponsor? >> thank you, commissioners. very briefly, the concern about this building being vacant for years, as you will see in my marked up copy of the agenda tonight, the application number of 2016 has been working for

quite some time to get this approved. it is -- it is not sitting vacant for fun. i am informed that 203,515th avenue is three stories, which included a vertical extension, and as for the timing of the meetings and the revisions, certainly no ulterior motive there. as to a continuance for the previous hearing, we wanted to look for additional measures to protect the neighbor's privacy. we looked very hard and moving the garage to the rear of the property and to the rear fronting on the alleyway, and it simply wasn't possible. we would require variances, it would require major changes, and much more construction. it just wasn't viable. it will impact other neighbors to do that. we have designed this to be as considerate of the neighbors as possible. you will see in your pockets added large planters to pull the deck space away from the

neighbors on both sides, front and rear. i don't think from what the architect has said, and feel free to talk to them, i don't think there will be any significant views into the neighbors' homes. we have pulled people back and use the roofline is self and planters to block the views. as for timing of the revision, the latest revision that you have was recent and that was to add the accessory dwelling unit. the reason that it took a little while to do that is this is a major change for this family. they were counting on having that space for their family. you can see it as a large family sitting under one roof. you have both owners' parents moving in and they have two children. it was a hard decision for them to turn the lower level into an a.d.u., but because they are moving their parents in -- >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. that closes this portion of the hearing. commissioners?

anybody? commissioner richards? >> i think with the changes on the privacy measures at the project sponsor has taken, my concerns have been satisfied. it is unusual to get the a.d.u. thrown at us. it is kind of the last hour. it is a great idea, you know, there are new plants that were sent to us, but i actually prefer to approve the project as is. i would like to apply for an a.d.u. under the stipulation you apply for it. take the d.r. and install the privacy measures and then i ask that you honor your agreement to apply for the a.d.u. rather than jam it through here. but i would like other commissioners to weigh in. >> i appreciate the privacy measures. the only thing i would like to do is change the drawings to reflect that indeed your planters are outbound of the

deck, rather than inbound of the deck. the reason is that planters is a form of an agreement. if you leave these planters out, you are creating a problem. if you are really in the group about privacy, which i believe is an ongoing issue, please put the railings inbound, which means the deck on the second floor to the rear and the front gets a little smaller, and the planter then becomes a landscape architectural feature that is outbound from the railing. as far as the a.d.u., if you could present the plans to us, we have not seen them. they came in last night at 8:00 pm. there is no ability to see them. there's nothing on our desks that i have seen. so i invite you to present your ideas and see if the commission can understand. >> do you want to quickly walk through the a.d.u.? i agree with that. >> i can -- until the architect

is ready, essentially they provide -- the a.d.u. we received yesterday and we had an opportunity to check and see if it is code compliant. it has entry so the primary entrance for both the units is facing the street, and it does comply with our standards for a.d.u. and it does not change the actual overall footprint as originally advertised. >> and it changes some way to enter the a.d.u.? >> if you want more detailed detail the architect can give a better explanation. >> i would note this has been vetted by planning staff. >> okay.

>> on the right -- >> pull that microphone up so we can hear you. >> on the right-hand side, you can see the proposed revised design which addresses the two units remedy today. we kept the entry of the building as it was. >> it was a common foyer. what is the second common foyer? >> it is about addressing the preservation staff recommendation that basically -- at those windows looking out our

choices side of the building. those are windows with no glazing and they needed to be kept the way they are. that foyer is indoor and outdoor type of an area. there are two entries -- two entries upstairs to a larger unit in the right-hand side is the a.d.u. >> commissioner melgar? >> i would rather approve the project with the a.d.u. today. i think that makes sense to me. i don't really see anything that is unusual about this project. i like the privacy mitigation and i think that the third floor is actually set back. it does everything that we usually ask people to do. so i'm really ready to approve this project today. >> is that a motion? >> i make a motion that we approve this. >> i was just going to suggest

that you include the date for these plans that you were supposed to receive. these are the latest plans that have this accessory dwelling unit. >> i am making in my motion the inclusion of the plans that were received on december 18th. >> could i please -- >> we are officially -- we have to take this. i second. >> thank you commissioners. >> there is a motion that has been seconded to take this and approve the project with the a.d.u. and with the plans dated december 18th, reducing the size of the deck. [roll call]

>> so moved. that passes unanimously 7-0. item 16 was continued to january 31st, placing as an item 17. discretionary review. is that how you pronounce the name? >> good afternoon. good evening planning commission before you is a discretionary review of a building permit. the reasons for the d.r. and the requester, the immediate and

adjacent neighbor to the north is concerned with three primary issues. the d.r. requester has made several complaints with regards to existing unpermitted work. this represents the actual habitable area and intends that no new building permit should be allowed until these have been cleared. the alternative is not to build the project and provided geotechnical rope fire report. he has not received any letters of opposition and no letters in support. the d.r. requester is concerned that they reviewed the project with respect to residents and design guidelines.

they determined it was not in a landslide and does not need a geotechnical investigation. if it were in a landslide zone, the investigation would be required if the scope of the addition meets any of those thresholds below the construction of the building or structure over 1,000 square feet of new project roof area, horizontal vertical area, 500 square feet with grading and including excavation. none of these conditions are being exceeded. the addition is over the building. the existing building footprint and matches the adjacent neighbor is quite well. the building permit applications have been submitted to legalize the existing work.

with this, staff finds a project meets the department standards and guidelines and recommends a commission not take the d.r. project as proposed as it does not prevent -- present any extraordinary circumstances. this concludes the department presentation and i'm happy to answer any questions. thank you. >> d.r. requester? >> good evening. >> this is my first. >> i can't hear you you will both have a two-minute rebuttal. go ahead. >> good evening. i have owned my property for almost 20 years.

i spent all my money and my work for my home to make sure that everything -- i have a downstairs room that was built in 2009. i know firsthand first hand how important it was to build with permits because of the hundred of code issues that must be followed. excavation of the foundation wall was required. i was very excited to have a family next door and i really welcomed them in the neighborhood and offer them any help they need. when i knew about the project of second edition on the top of the roof, i try to communicate and express my concerns. i asked the owner more than once to legalize the room downstairs in the basement. two floors down from the addition. i showed them the photo during my project and how a lot of work is needed. the owners told me they will legalize it. but