The almost-last item on today's agenda at the Planning Commission: 457 Urbano Drive in Ingleside Terraces, that neighborhood laid out in they early 1900's south of Ocean Avenue and east of Junipero Serra. Seems a serial permit-violater, Tad Nguyen, has committed a number of offenses in adding a second story to the house, including (but not limited to) an incompatible second story deck, incompatible windows, horizontal extensions and building over the height limit, charges laid out in a scorching document written by clearly pissed-off staffers.Issue #4: The Project Sponsor, Tad Nguyen, is a building contractor and should know better, but he has a lengthy history of deviating from the approved plans or doing work without permits. There are three other properties in Ingleside Terraces on which he has worked; all three have had violations.Mr. Nguyen sought to have the unpermitted construction approved retroactively but a neighbor threw a Discretionary Review at him. No doubt because construction seems to have been ongoing since 2007. The staff report makes great bedtime reading- in the way that a RICO indictment might- of cataloged transgressions. Ingleside Terraces was a down-market version of St, Francis Wood- although it did have deeded racial covenants- and many of the houses are one-story boxes with flat tar roofs and historicist facades. Plus there's that odd sundial in the middle of it all. Even more odd, Ingleside Terraces was platted out on the grounds of the Ingelside Race track. The developers retained the .92 mile route- hence the oval of Urbano Drive, which of course reminded us of Rome's Piazza Navona, whose ancient plan follows the shape of Emperor Domitian's 1st Century chariot stadium. Looking at Piazza Navona, there's no doubt there were generations of serial permit violators. We'd rather have gelato.
· Ingleside Terraces [Ingleside Terraces Association]
· 457 Urbano Terrace Packet (pdf.) [SFPlanning]
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