It's the city's fault that a rare earthquake shack is almost gone - 48 hills

"For years, the preservation community and the neighbors pleaded with the Planning Department staff and the Planning Commission to leave the Valley Street Cottage alone, and build to its rear. Instead, the staff bought into a cockamamie idea to lift the cottage up, move it forward on the lot, and make it the second story of a new structure. And now we see that the new owner could not even get to first base with this plan."

"Worse yet, once the new owner started construction, our preservation architect Michael Garavaglia checked in with the Planning Department to see how they planned to monitor the project, and to offer any assistance they might want. He was told that everything was fine, that the Planning Department staff was in contact with the owner, and that there was nothing to worry about. Talk about being asleep at the switch..."

An historic Valley Street Earthquake Cottage was illegally stripped of its walls during a redevelopment scheme initiated by real estate speculators John Schrader and Benjamin Steiner. Preservation advocates and neighbors repeatedly urged the Planning Department and Planning Commission to preserve the cottage and build behind it, but staff approved a risky plan to lift the cottage and make it the second story of a new building. The preservation architect Michael Garavaglia was reassured by staff that monitoring was adequate, but construction proceeded and neighbors later raised the alarm. The Planning Department now threatens fines up to $500,000, but enforcement appears unlikely.

Read at 48 hills