Why mentally ill on streets of S.F. are not getting needed referrals.

San Francisco real estate investor and developer Ashok Gujral has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office brought last year accusing him of doing unpermitted construction work on seven residential properties.

Herrera sued Gujral in San Francisco Superior Court last June, claiming the developer obtained permits for smallscale construction projects at the properties as a mask for much more intensive work. Getting approvals for bigger projects is more expensive for developers and requires a more expansive, timeconsuming review by the city. In some cases, Herrera alleged

that Gujral didn’t seek permits at all.

In one instance, Herrera’s office claimed Gujral obtained permits to remodel the interior of a home at 1613 Church St. in Noe Valley, but ended up adding vertical and horizontal additions to the home and building stairs stretching from the ground floor to a roof deck.

Gujral does not have to admit to any wrongdoing as a part of the settlement. An attorney for Gujral did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement released Monday, Herrera’s office said the settlement was meant as a “warning” for other developers seeking to skirt the city’s permitting and review processes. Without having to wait for the proper permit and signoffs from the city’s Planning Department, developers can build more quickly and cheaply, but without important safety checks and oversight, Herrera said.

“Unscrupulous developers trying to make a quick buck by flouting the law increase safety risks, endanger the character of our neighborhoods and cheat honest developers by creating an uneven playing field,” he said in a statement. “The city is not going to tolerate people trying to game the system so they can profit off of San Francisco’s housing crisis.”

Herrera also credited Planning Department staff “for their help in bringing this case.”

On top of the $1.2 million settlement payment, Gujral must pay $83,000 to obtain the proper permits. He also agreed to submit to inspections and provide quarterly reports on any properties he and his wife, Susan Gujral, own.

Susan Gujral is a designer whose work has been featured in The Chronicle.

Gujral has also been criticized by tenants’ rights advocates. He was slammed in 2017 after a 93yearold resident in a building he was seeking to renovate was found dead. Neighbors at the time said the man was distressed at his possible displacement. Gujral allegedly told planning commissioners that the man had said to him that he was willing to be relocated from the home he had lived in for more than 60 years.

Gujral is also the former coowner of the popular Indian restaurant Roti Bistro, but a representative from the restaurant said in an email Monday that he was “not involved” with the West Portal dining spot.

— Dominic Fracassa San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen confronted U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, RTexas, at Los Angeles International Airport over the weekend, beseeching the stalwart conservative to end the “caging of children and the separation of families” at the Mexican border.

“I don’t know how you can live with yourself supporting these policies,” she said to Cruz, after introducing herself as an elected representative in San Francisco who represents the Mission District, the biggest Latino community in the city.

“Ma’am, the cages were built by President Obama,” Cruz replied.

“Kids are dying and families are being separated and it’s disgusting,” Ronen said, imploring Cruz to use his authority as a senator to “do something to stop it.”

Cruz blamed Congressional Democrats for “producing” the border crisis. Congressional policies, he said, have created incentives for drug and human traffickers to bring children “because, effectively, we said, ‘if you bring a little child, it’s a getoutofjailfree card.’ ”

A chorus of critics has likened the overcrowded, squalid conditions inside the migrant detention facilities to concentration camps. Multiple children have died this year while in the custody of U.S. border officials. Many of the migrants are Central Americans seeking refugee status in the United States as they flee endemic poverty and violence in their home countries.

Their confrontation ended abruptly as Cruz left for his flight.

“Although many may say it’s pointless, I will never miss an opportunity to confront those in power and appeal to their conscience,” Ronen said on her Facebook page.

The encounter was previously reported by Mission Local. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa