Rejected

After an hour and a half of shenanigans testimony, the Board of Supervisors unanimously upheld the exemption from environmental review for 611 Buena Vista West and rejected the neighbors' appeal. Public speakers had the same NIMBY complaints as the appellants: it doesn't "conform to the neighborhood" (that's full of other contemporary buildings, and the project would have no impact to the potential historic status of its neighbors) and it'll "block ocean views" (that are already blocked by the taller adjacent houses and is not one of the City's protected viewsheds). Supervisor Weiner earned his pay going toe-to-toe with the appellant's lawyer whether this was really a CEQA issue or merely a DR case, and pointing out that every building project could have the potential to affect someone's view of something. Even though the CEQA appeal was denied, the neighbor complaints will see the light of day again – the appeal of the Discretionary Review is scheduled for May 8. [SF Gov/Previously on Curbed SF]