A Building Permit Nightmare

A San Francisco family faces a 13-year battle with a community design review board. It's a troubling story of how planning ruined a family's life.

1 minute read

September 19, 2001, 8:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"As any developer will tell you, appeasing neighborhood groups can be as time consuming and quixotic as fighting windmills. But according to Savage, Bernal Heights is a particularly egregious example: 'One city planner said we should spend some time going around the neighborhood and really get to know the neighbors. Another neighbor, an architect building her own house, took six months off of work to get permits. That's fine for people who don't have to work. But we were working overtime to pay for the mortgage, and taking care of a new baby.'"

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Dream House Lost : Powerful Neighborhood Groups Can Thwart Building Permit Process

Tuesday, September 18, 2001 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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