Public Comment Alleges Permit Irregularities at 3847 Eighteenth Street

At the Jan. 19 Building Inspection Commission meeting, public commenter Jerry Dretler urged the commission to review the project at 3847 Eighteenth Street, alleging multiple permit and construction irregularities and naming contractors and staff members involved.

Dretler said the project "illustrates many of the challenges faced by DBI," and asserted that "Bernie Curran should not have finaled 8 building permits for this project." He said there was an open $175,000 building permit tied to a Planning Department notice of enforcement and alleged excavating "822 cubic yards without a CEQA review," construction of rear expansion and large dormers without required notices, "substantial demolition without demo calculations," and the conversion of two full flats into a single-family residence with an au pair unit lacking unit size calculations. He named contractor Jonathan Pollard and structural engineer Harold Howell and asked that Commissioner Summers, a licensed structural engineer, review the project at a subsequent meeting.

Commissioners acknowledged the comment and one asked that the item be placed on a subsequent agenda for more detailed review. DBI staff did not offer a detailed rebuttal during the public-comment period; the commission's staff noted the correspondence and stated that the matter could be brought back for consideration.