A neighborhood war in the Sausalito hills could be closer to a truce following a decision by the City Council.<\/p>\n
The conflict involves 33 San Carlos Ave., a quarter-acre property with a broad view of San Francisco. In 2021, the owners of the three-level home there embarked on a project to remodel and expand the house and install an accessory dwelling unit.<\/p>\n
The Planning Commission approved the project in 2022, and the owners obtained a building permit in 2024. But earlier this year, after construction began, neighbors complained about code violations and demanded the city stop the work.<\/p>\n
The city determined that \u201cthe project had deviated from the approved plans by demolishing more of the existing home\u201d than the approvals allowed, according to a report by the planning office. The city ordered work to halt while officials talked with the owners about how to proceed.<\/p>\n
The staff told the owners the project would require a design review permit \u201cdue to the amount of demolition undertaken, changes to the project, and changes in state and local ADU laws since the prior approval,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
The owners revised the plans in preparation for another Planning Commission hearing, including adding a junior accessory dwelling unit to the project. In the meantime, neighbors complained again that work had continued in violation of the stop-work order. The city also received complaints that two protected trees had been substantially cut without approval.<\/p>\n
In October, following several delays and extensions, the Planning Commission approved the design review permit. The neighbor at 25 San Carlos Ave. promptly appealed, citing the unauthorized work, errors by the city and the lost privacy from the tree diminishment.<\/p>\n
The process culminated in a lengthy hearing before the City Council on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The owners of 33 San Carlos Ave., Kostas Kassaras and Katherine Pappas-Kassaras, defended the project. Pappas-Kassaras said they planned it for years, followed the city\u2019s guidance and worked diligently to secure approvals.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite this, we have been subjected to what I believe is a scorched-earth campaign to wreak havoc on our reputation and also the city\u2019s resources,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pappas-Kassaras accused the owner of 25 San Carlos Ave., Vicki Abeles, of trying to \u201cdelay, obstruct and threaten litigation at every turn with the goal of breaking us physically, emotionally and financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pappas-Kassaras said the tree canopy needed to be trimmed away from the home for fire safety. The residence had been vacant for years before the couple bought it, and the trees had become overgrown.<\/p>\n
She also said the remodeling project is a medical necessity because she and her twin sister have Parkinson\u2019s disease and they need accessibility accommodations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur dream is deteriorating before our eyes,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease let my family go home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leonard Rifkind, a lawyer for Adeles, told the council the core issue is the \u201cbutchered, protected tree canopy.\u201d He said 40% of the canopy is gone, destroying the natural screen between his client\u2019s home and the bulky structure that would be next door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project is the epitome of how not to do a project in this city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rifkind said the Abeles team has suggested project revisions to preserve the screening. His client wants a portion of a third-floor addition removed from the space where the tree canopy was.<\/p>\n
Abeles also spoke, telling the council the code violations should not be overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen work happens outside the rules or continues despite a stop-work order, it undermines confidence that the code applies equally to everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to be clear: I\u2019m not trying to stop the applicants from having a home. I\u2019m simply asking the city to follow its own process and to take the impacts on my property and on this hillside seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several other speakers opposed the project, urging the council to enforce the city\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Ian Sobieski recused himself from the matter because he lives near the project. The remaining members of the council discussed options, noting the potential legal constraints because the project creates more housing through its ADUs.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Jill Hoffman expressed sympathy for Abeles because of the intrusion into the tree canopy, but added, \u201cI\u2019m cautious about trying to design from the dias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Joan Cox proposed the council uphold the Planning Commission approval, with several conditions aimed to satisfy Abeles. They include relocating the portion of the third floor away from the tree canopy and obtaining a geotechnical report for a building permit.<\/p>\n
The council approved the action 4-0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A neighborhood war in the Sausalito hills could be closer to a truce following a decision by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,1011,181,23,992,100,180,993,266,388,101,103,102,3624,3625,47472,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-83858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-housing","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-marin-county","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-newsletter","15":"tag-north-bay","16":"tag-northern-california","17":"tag-real-estate","18":"tag-san-francisco","19":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","20":"tag-san-francisco-news","21":"tag-sausalito","22":"tag-sausalito-city-council","23":"tag-sausalito-planning-commission","24":"tag-sf","25":"tag-sf-headlines","26":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}