Owner who illegally tore down house sues S.F. twice
A Twin Peaks property owner has sued San Francisco in both state and federal court over the ruling he must build an exact replica of the 1935 home designed by famed modernist Richard Neutra that previously occupied the site.
In the lawsuit, which seeks $10 million in damages, attorneys for owner Ross Johnston allege the city “illegally confiscated the property without just compensation and violated constitutionally protected rights of due process, freedom of speech, equal protection under the law, vested property rights and excessive fines.”
On Dec. 13, the City Planning Commission unanimously turned down an application by Johnston to build a 4,000-square-foot home at 49 Hopkins Ave. that would have replaced a previous house the Department of Building Inspection ruled was demolished illegally.
Instead, the commission ordered Johnston to
build a copy of the original 927-square-foot Largent House, one of five homes that Neutra designed in San Francisco.
The controversy struck a chord at a time when many San Franciscans complain about speculative developers snapping up average-sized homes then tearing them down without permission and replacing them with much larger and more expensive homes.
Johnston, who lives in Florida, had originally planned to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to the Board of Supervisors. But his appeal was rejected because he failed to obtain enough signatures. An appeal requires either signatures of 20 percent of neighbors within 300 feet of the property in question, or four members of the Board of Supervisors. Johnston managed to gather signatures from 10 percent of his neighbors. No supervisors signed on.
In addition to $10 million, Johnston is seeking restoration of a previously approved 2014 city permit that authorized the expansion of the home.
Andrew Zacks, Johnston’s attorney, argued that the house Johnston’s contractor illegally tore down didn’t have enough of its original features to be considered historic, which Planning Department preservation evaluators had determined in 2014.
“This case is just another example of abusive, retroactive government overreach by unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats drunk with power,” Johnston said.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera said that the lawsuits are under review.
“We’re reviewing these lawsuits, so we’re not going to discuss their specifics,” Herrera said. “But more broadly, illegal demolition is something we take very seriously. One can’t just violate city laws and then ask for forgiveness later. It doesn’t work that way.”
Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards said there is precedent for the Hopkins Avenue decision — the panel had twice before ordered that homes be rebuilt after illegal demolitions, once at 665 Alvarado St. in Noe Valley and once at 214 States St. in Corona Heights.
He said that Johnston enjoyed the same “due process” afforded any project sponsor.
“He came before the Planning Commission and failed to convince us that we should permit the demolition of the house that he had already demolished,” said Richards. “If he had come to us when the house was still standing, things might have gone differently.”