Socketsite reports that a Superior Court judge has ruled that construction at 1050 Valencia must temporarily halt. The ruling has to do with how the Board of Appeals came to its decision on the project in February 2014.
The judge ruled that the Board of Appeals, in approving the project after initialing ruling against, “abused its discretion” and “failed to set forth the analytic route it traveled.” At the time, the Board of Appeals was under public pressure from Supervisor Scott Weiner to rule in favor of the condo project.
Here’s more from Socketsite:
From Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith’s order last week in response to a petition from Neighbors for Preservation and Progress, halting construction and ordering further hearing:
[The Board of Appeals] abused its discretion because its decision of February 26, 2014, does not comply with [the case law]. Viewing the record as a whole, there is an insufficient analytical bridge between the raw data and decision.
Also noted by the judge, “the Court cannot determine based on the instant record whether Supervisor Weiner (sic) illegally tainted the deliberative process in violation of San Francisco City Charter 2.114 or whether he was merely expressing his opinion under the First Amendment.”
This all means that 1050 Valencia will be frozen mid-construction and the Board of Appeals will be required to rule again on the project. Stay tuned.
