Mayor's Home Haunted by Nosy Neighbor
A pile of pesky complaints were filed against previous owner by neighbor, contractor over renovations
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 2:15 PM PST, Thu, Aug 6, 2009
San Francisco real estate can be scary -- maybe not Pacific Heights scary, but scary enough -- and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and wife Jennifer Siebel-Newsom may find their new home haunted.
Seems the previous owner, Candace Barnes, had to deal with more than half a dozen complaints from a former contractor and neighbor over what appear routing renovations on the structure.
Son many complaints, Barnes estimated it cost her $80,000 and possible opportunities to close a sale of the house.
Everything from repairing the fence to the plumbing seemed reason enough for a formal complaint to be filed with the city.
Barnes eventually appealed to the Planning Commission asking them to change their procedures for resolving permitting disputes to make it more difficult for people to issue arbitrary complaints and hold up work.
Presumably the newlyweds knew what they were getting into long before they moved in to the neighborhood and its warm welcome.
The mayor must have figured that once he owned the place, city building managers will likely pay close attention to the case and any of his suggestions for improvements to the permitting process.
Photo via Google Maps.
Jackson West honestly doesn't understand why home ownership seems to terribly attractive.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Aug 6, 2009 1:40 PM PST
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