Board allows deck but denies spiral stair at 566 Kansas St.; removes recorded restriction

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Dec. 13 allowed the owners of 566 Kansas St. to legalize use of a rear roof area as a deck while upholding the planning denial for a spiral stair that would encroach into the required rear yard.

Tom Tunney, attorney for Amanda Salmon and Misha Palasek, asked the board to overturn prior Board of Appeals restrictions placed in the 1987 and 1993 decisions and to reverse a zoning administrator denial of a rear-yard variance. Planning's Corey Teague said prior Board decisions had placed conditions on the property that were recorded as a notice of special restrictions (NSR) and required the zoning administrator to deny the variance unless the board removed those conditions.

Neighbors who share the backyard testified that a new deck would intrude on privacy; they asked that any legalization include screening. Planning and DBI representatives said the deck as an open-railing roof deck typically can be permitted on nonconforming structures so long as it does not increase height, but that adding opaque screening could trigger a variance.

After deliberation, the board voted 4'to'0 to grant the appeal for the deck (removing the NSR with respect to deck use) and to uphold the zoning administrator's decision denying the variance for the spiral stair. The board signaled it could consider screening requirements later but declined to add a screening condition that would itself require a new variance. The board instructed staff to reflect the change in the permit record so the property can pursue building-permit legalization for the deck while the staircase remains prohibited.

The board's decision allows the owners to move forward with plans that legalize the roof area as a deck (subject to building-permit review) but keeps the rear-yard stair prohibited under the variance denial.