San Francisco authorities are tangling with Elon Musk after he renovated the headquarters of his social media company, X, without proper permitting.
A giant, flashing “X” logo was removed from the top of X’s headquarters on Monday after the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection launched an investigation into its unpermitted installation, according to the Associated Press. The department acted after it received two dozen complaints about the sign.
Our HQ in San Francisco tonight pic.twitter.com/VQO2NoX9Tz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2023
Musk recently rebranded the social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, with plans to expand the platform to include banking, a virtual marketplace, and other features. The billionaire tech entrepreneur began renovating the site’s headquarters by stripping away an old Twitter logo and lettering from the outside of the San Francisco building last week.
Work on removing the Twitter trappings was paused when city officials noticed the changes were being made without proper permitting. City officials said the work needed approval to ensure it is “consistent with the historic nature of the building.”
City officials issued a notice of violation against X’s new signage, the X logo in lights on the top of the building, for being “unsafe.” The work done to remove X’s sign on Monday was also unpermitted, but the city allowed the sign to be removed and the proper permitting taken care of later because of safety concerns.
“Over the weekend, the Department of Building Inspection and City Planning received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure, including concerns about its structural safety and illumination. This morning, building inspectors observed the structure being dismantled. A building permit is required to remove the structure but, due to safety concerns, the permit can be secured after the structure is taken down,” department spokesman Patrick Hannan told CNN in an email.
“The property owner will be assessed fees for the unpermitted installation of the illuminated structure. The fees will be for building permits for the installation and removal of the structure, and to cover the cost of the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department’s investigation,” he added.
Musk rebranded one of the most well-known companies in the world to fit his vision of turning the social media platform into X, the “everything app.” In a statement on the site explaining the rebranding, CEO Linda Yaccarino said, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
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