Another planning dept jaw-dropper
 

I started a thread a while back about how ridiculous planning/building departments can be, but this new one takes the cake. A homeowner called my company for help to evaluate the stability of a retaining wall that was built without a permit. It's 4 feet tall and 15 feet long, in the back yard. He got a permit violation from San Francisco's engineering division demanding the evaluation be done. And it says right on the violation when the retaining wall was built.

It was built in... drum roll please... 1916! That's not a typo. The wall is in perfectly good shape, by the way.