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The Council shall prescribe by ordinance the procedures for the granting of variances subject to the following:
(a) Initial Hearing and Determination. All applications for variances shall be heard and determined by a Zoning Administrator except as otherwise provided in Section 564.
(b) Appeals Process. An aggrieved person may appeal a variance decision of the Zoning Administrator to the Area Planning Commission. The grant of a variance by the Area Planning Commission may be further appealed to the City Planning Commission or Council as prescribed by ordinance. There shall be no further appeal from the decision of the Area Planning Commission to deny a variance. However, that action of the Area Planning Commission is subject to Council review pursuant to Section 245.
(c) Findings for Granting a Variance. The following findings shall be made before a variance may be granted:
(1) that the strict application of the provisions of the zoning ordinance would result in practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships inconsistent with the general purposes and intent of the zoning regulations;
(2) that there are special circumstances applicable to the subject property such as size, shape, topography, location or surroundings that do not apply generally to other property in the same zone and vicinity;
(3) that the variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right or use generally possessed by other property in the same zone and vicinity but which, because of the special circumstances and practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships, is denied to the property in question;
(4) that the granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare, or injurious to the property or improvements in the same zone or vicinity in which the property is located; and
(5) that the granting of the variance will not adversely affect any element of the General Plan.
The grant of a variance may include conditions that will remedy a disparity of privileges and that are necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare and assure compliance with the objectives of the General Plan and the purpose and intent of the zoning ordinance. A variance shall not be used to grant a special privilege or to permit a use substantially inconsistent with the limitations upon other properties in the same zone and vicinity. The Zoning Administrator may deny a variance if the conditions creating the need for the variance were self-imposed.
(a) Subdivisions. The procedure for the approval of parcel maps, subdivision maps and other approvals granted pursuant to the State Subdivision Map Act shall be prescribed by ordinance.
(b) Conditional Use Permits and Other Similar Quasi-Judicial Approvals. The Council shall prescribe by ordinance the procedure for the granting of conditional use permits and similar quasi-judicial approvals subject to the following:
(1) Initial Determination. Applications for conditional use permits and similar quasi-judicial land use approvals shall be heard and determined either by the Zoning Administrator or Area Planning Commission as provided by ordinance. However, the City Planning Commission may adopt rules and regulations, subject to approval by ordinance, that identify classes or categories of quasi-judicial approvals that have citywide impact, and provide for those approvals to be heard and determined by the City Planning Commission instead of an Area Planning Commission.
(2) Appeals Process. An aggrieved person may appeal a decision of the Zoning Administrator with respect to a conditional use permit or similar quasi-judicial approval to the Area Planning Commission. Decisions of an Area Planning Commission, except those decisions made by the Area Planning Commission on appeal from a decision of the Zoning Administrator, may be appealed either to the City Planning Commission or Council, as provided by ordinance. However, the process for the approval of conditional use permits and similar quasi-judicial approvals may not include more than one level of appeal from the decision of a decision-making official or body. For purposes of this restriction:
(A) The use of hearing examiners or other methods by which recommendations are made to a decision-making official or body does not preclude an appeal from the decision of the decision-making official or body.
(B) If the Council is acting as the appellate body, the Council’s action may be subject to Mayoral approval and Council override of Mayoral disapproval by a two-thirds vote of the Council, if so provided by ordinance.
(C) Council review of an action under Charter Section 245 shall not be considered an appeal for purposes of this section.
(D) The restrictions on appeals do not apply to any legislative actions.
If a project requires approvals by both the Zoning Administrator and either an Area Planning Commission or the City Planning Commission, those approvals that would otherwise be heard and determined by the Zoning Administrator shall be heard and determined by the Area Planning Commission or City Planning Commission, whichever has jurisdiction over the other approvals required for the project. Approvals for a project that requires both quasi-judicial and legislative actions shall be heard and determined by the City Planning Commission, except as provided in Section 565.
The City Planning Commission may adopt rules and regulations, subject to approval by ordinance, identifying classes or categories of legislative actions for projects determined not to have citywide impact, and provide for action on those projects to be taken by an Area Planning Commission in lieu of the City Planning Commission.
The Police Department shall have the power and duty to enforce the penal provisions of the Charter, City ordinances and state and federal law. In the discharge of these powers and duties, the members of the department shall have the powers and duties of peace officers as defined by state law. The officers and employees of the Police Department shall have the power and duty to protect lives and property in case of disaster or public calamity. The scope and extent of those emergency powers and duties and the manner of their exercise shall be prescribed by ordinance consistent with Section 231(i).
(a) Members of the Board of Police Commissioners shall serve for a maximum of two five-year terms, except that a member may serve up to two years of an unexpired term plus two terms of five years. A member of the Board of Police Commissioners shall be limited to two consecutive one-year terms as President of the Board of Police Commissioners.
(b) The Board of Police Commissioners shall have the power to:
(1) issue instructions to the Chief of Police concerning the exercise of the authority conferred on the Chief of Police by the Charter, other than the disciplinary authority conferred by Section 1070;
(2) evaluate the Chief of Police annually, set or adjust the compensation for the Chief of Police within the salary guidelines established by Council after recommendations concerning those guidelines have been made to the Council by the City Administrative Officer; and forward a copy of the evaluation and salary determination to the Mayor and Council for information;
(3) appoint and remove an Executive Director whose position shall be exempt from the civil service provisions of the Charter and who shall not be a member of the Police Department; and
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Subsec. (b)(2), Charter Amendment II, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
Subject to the provisions of the Charter, the rules of the Police Department, and the instruction of the Board of Police Commissioners, the Executive Director of the Board of Police Commissioners shall have the power and duty to:
(a) administer the affairs of the Board of Police Commissioners as its chief administrative officer;
(b) appoint, discharge, discipline, transfer and issue instructions to employees appointed as independent staff of the Board of Police Commissioners, except for employees under the direction of the Inspector General, all subject to the civil service provisions of Article X of the Charter;
(c) expend the funds designated by budgetary appropriations or appropriations made after adoption of the budget for expenditure by the Board of Police Commissioners or its staff, in accordance with the provisions of those appropriations;
(d) recommend to the Board of Police Commissioners prior to the beginning of each fiscal year a budget covering the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the board and its staff, conforming so far as practicable to the forms and dates provided in the Charter in relation to the general City budget;
(e) certify the expenditures of the Board of Police Commissioners and its staff to the chief accounting employee; and
(f) exercise further powers in the administration of the Board of Police Commissioners conferred upon the Executive Director by the board.
The authority of the Executive Director shall not extend to authority over the Chief of Police nor encroach upon the authority of the Chief of Police to administer the affairs of the Police Department as its general manager and chief administrative officer.
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