San Fran neighbors in heated 15-year feud over row of windows, view-blocking spite wall

A pair of San Francisco neighbors have been engaged in a bitter 15-year legal feud – over a row of windows offering a gorgeous view of the bay that one resident claims encroaches on her property.Legal actions, troves of planning documents, a restraining order and even a so-called view-blocking “spite wall” have consumed the ongoing battle between Teresa Votruba and Bushra Khan that erupted in 2010 when Khan moved into the neighborhood, the San Francisco Chronicle reported over the weekend.Khan, a 69-year-old retiree, lives in a condo at 280 Union Street with 11 east-facing small rectangular windows that look out onto a neighbor’s deck, but also provide sights of Treasure Island and the surrounding water.Votruba, whose family owns several units in a building next door at 218 Union Street in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood, has fought to either block those windows or remove them, leading to more than three dozen complaints with the city’s building department, the newspaper reported.At one point, Khan reportedly said her windows were covered with plywood, black tarps and other items without her permission, according to court records.

Her windows were plastered with various signs, including “Neighborhood Watch” and “Abate Nuisance.”“This is an emotionally charged case that seemingly means a lot to both parties,” Planning Department Chief of Staff Dan Snider told the Chronicle.“You can feel the passion, the emotion and the concern from everyone involved.”The conflict has been so tense that Khan was granted a restraining order against Votruba, 76, in 2015 after her lawyer argued Votruba pointed “surveillance cameras” at the windows and put up posters that were “threatening” and “intimidating,” the Chronicle reported.The restraining order was recently renewed for another three years.“It’s relentless,” Khan told the outlet.“It’s been going on and on and on.”Votruba has claimed Khan’s windows and exterior encroach on her...