Cottages' Demolition OK Draws Ire of Richmond Residents

By Carol Dimmick

A decision by the SF Planning Commission last month to allow the demolition of two Edwardian-era cottages in the Outer Richmond District ended a long and bitter battle that pitted neighbors and their allies against a prominent member of the Asian community.

When 20-year residents Cheryl and Ron Karpowicz discovered that the new owner, Julie Lee, a community leader and city housing commissioner, planned to tear down two cottages adjacent to their home and build two four-story residences, they mounted a fierce campaign to stop the demolitions.

The Karpowiczes say the massive scale of the project will destroy the light to their backyard deck, darken their family room and overwhelm the neighborhood. They also want the cottages preserved because they represent a unique architectural feature of the neighborhood.

The Edwardian-era cottages are part of a tract of 17 similar houses built by developer John C. Brickell in 1907 and are examples of early tract homes in the Outer Richmond that once extended from 334 28th Ave. to California Street, along California Street to 27th Avenue and over to 335 27th Ave.

Lee, a long-time Richmond resident and owner of First National Realty Company, contends the cottages are beyond repair. Lee says she bought the properties to build a home for her daughter to live in. She plans to sell or lease the second residence.

While Lee acknowledged she has torn down at least five properties in the last several years, she says they were all "abandoned cottages" that she replaced with beautiful new homes for people to live in.

"I am giving something back to the community," Lee said.

Lee explained that when she tried to work with the Karpowiczes to reduce the impact on their home, they kept making more demands and they ultimately became "nasty." According to Lee, this is when she stopped negotiating and decided to let things run their course.

"I felt insulted by them and I am a fighter," Lee explained.

After negotiations broke down and city planners approved the project with only minor revisions, the Karpowiczes hired an attorney and filed for a Discretionary Review of the project along with other tenants.

In the months leading up to the hearing, the SF Planning Department was deluged with letters and telephone calls from various opponents, including two local neighborhood organizations, the Planning Association for the Richmond and SF Architectural Heritage.

It was 10 p.m. before the case was finally heard July 12.

Opponents of the project told commissioners that such a large project would have a negative impact on the availability of parking in the area and would remove two affordable rental units from the housing market.

"The project would destroy the character of the neighborhood, add to traffic and parking congestion and make the area more unaffordable for working families," said opponent Patty Weinstein, a Richmond District resident for 21 years and a 28th Avenue homeowner.

Nancy Scotton, a 30-year resident of the Richmond District, told commissioners that as a lifetime renter who was recently evicted from her apartment, the housing market is overpriced for middle income renters.

"I've been out in the housing market and one of the things that strikes me is that these cottages are going to come close to being affordable to people that have more moderate means. This is something that should not come down unless it is absolutely necessary," Scotton said.

But it was the testimony of Steve Williams, a candidate for city attorney who represented the Karpowiczes at the hearing, who reflected the level of rancor generated by the pending demolitions.

Williams told commissioners that Lee already threatened her tenants with Ellis Act evictions to get them out of the cottages and then bought their silence.

"The Discretionary Reviews were withdrawn by those living in the houses because the tenants in these units were threatened with the Ellis Act and then paid to move out," Williams said.

Williams also accused Lee of inflated figures to obtain a demolition permit from the City.

"Lee submitted figures showing that each house would cost $300,000 to bring it up to code. We have submitted a report that shows it would only cost $43,000 to repair each of the houses. Their figures are completely false," he said. "The new project looks like Jonah inside of the whale."

Lee was represented at the hearing by her friend, Rev. Arnold Townsend.

Townsend took strong exception to Williams' charge that tenants left the cottages under a veiled threat, calling the accusations unfounded.

"I, on behalf of the sponsor, certainly resent the suggestion that people were threatened out of them (cottages). To assume that something illegal, unfair or immoral was done without the facts is something that should not be a part of this hearing," Townsend said.

While Townsend acknowledged that the new buildings Lee proposed are larger than those on either side of the existing cottages, he says their size is not out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood.

"To say that this is out of character with the block is absolutely false. There are 26 buildings that are about this size," Townsend said.

He told commissioners that unlike the cottages, which he called an "eyesore," the new residences would be built with off-street parking.

By a unanimous vote, members of the SF Planning Commission allowed Lee's project to move forward with the following qualification: that Lee provide matching light wells with those of the Karpowiczes to preserve their light, that an interior connection be provided between the ground and first floors of each building, that exterior trim on the buildings be differentiated and that landscaping be included in the plan.

Ron and Cheryl Karpowicz declined interviews while they are reviewing their options and Lee expressed concern that her daughter may not want to live in the neighborhood due to recent hostilities.

"I have not told my daughter about what is going on here because she would not want to come," Lee said.