SF homeowner vows lawsuit to allow addition of affordable units

A San Francisco homeowner is suing the city and county after they refused to allow him to build affordable housing units where he lives in Corona Heights.

Scott Pluta has said he will file his lawsuit after a two-year battle to add four homes, – two of them affordable – to a corner lot at 4300 17th St., the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The complaint is now being served to different government agencies.

“Does the need for affordable housing outweigh the strict limitations of the planning code?” Pluta said. “To me that is a no brainer. The lack of housing is at the root of a range of civic disasters that this city is facing.”

Pluta, an attorney for Google, lives on the top floor of a three-story building with his wife, Rosalind Pluta, who also works at Google.

His original plan called for three more units to be built in a second building in a side yard, which would require a variance to split the lot to meet the zoning code. Because it’s in a special use district, it would require another level of approval.

To appease opposition, he sought approval for two units in a second structure instead.

Both a converted garage and one of the new units would be affordable, permanently deeded to the Mayor’s Office of Housing with tenants selected by lottery. The other unit in the new structure would be rented at market rate.

His request for two conditional use authorizations was denied, as was a request for a variance to subdivide his lot. Pluta appealed the variance decision, and that was denied in a 5-0 vote.

His lawsuit, dated April 8, asks the court to restore his original plan – which is for a total of six units, two of them market and two of them affordable, plus his own residence and his rent-control unit, which has a long-time tenant.

Pluta, who is representing himself, said once he is assigned a case number by the court he will serve all the defending parties, which include the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Department, the Planning Commission, the Zoning Administrator, and the Board of Appeals.
He is demanding a jury trial, which he expects to be more than a year away.

“This is a unique case which would unlock small-scale infill mixed affordable housing throughout this city,” Pluta said. “The city has no plan for building affordable housing in 86 percent of San Francisco’s neighborhoods and this would make that possible.”

[San Francisco Chronicle] – Dana Bartholomew

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