On Oct. 20, 2025, the Board of Adjustment Panel C granted multiple variances to sidewalk and planting-zone requirements for a proposed development at 911 East Eighth Street (case BOA25000056), voting 5-0 on each motion.

Applicant Jennifer Hiramoto and engineer David Lam presented the case, saying the site’s topography—roughly a 16-foot grade change—and existing retaining walls make strict compliance with the form district’s planting-zone and sidewalk rules impractical. Hiramoto said the project proposes to maintain a city-installed 5-foot sidewalk at the curb along Eighth Street and place the required planting area behind that sidewalk; along Dale Street the plan would provide a 6-foot sidewalk but a narrower-than-required planting parkway because visibility triangle and setback constraints limit plantable area.

Hiramoto told the board that full compliance would force the developer to remove an existing, recently installed 5-foot sidewalk on Eighth Street and rebuild a 6-foot parkway and 6-foot sidewalk, and that grading changes would require a roughly 10-foot retaining wall on the site’s downdrop toward Dale Street. The applicant provided two cost estimates and said the full compliance option would increase infrastructure costs by approximately $176,000. Engineer David Lam explained that a bus stop at the site requires an all-weather pedestrian pad and that tying the new work into existing sidewalks and utilities increases complexity and off-site impacts.

Chair Slade and board members questioned whether the sidewalk and parkway could be safely configured; members noted the existing city-installed sidewalk and the proposed behind-the-sidewalk planting as mitigating factors. The board moved to grant the variance for the planting and sidewalk zone regulations along Dale Street, and separately granted the variances for the Eighth Street frontage; both motions required compliance with the most recent submitted plans. Each motion passed by a 5-0 voice vote.

The board’s decisions allow the developer to proceed with the proposed configuration—subject to plan compliance and permitting review where engineering, accessibility and bus-stop requirements will be checked during permitting and construction review.