You are viewing an archived code
(a) Right of Appeal. The action of the Planning Commission, in disapproving in whole or in part an amendment to the Planning Code initiated by application as described in Section 302 and Sections 306 through 306.5, or in approving or disapproving in whole or in part an application for Conditional Use authorization as described in Sections 303 and 304 and Sections 306 through 306.5 of this Code, shall be subject to appeal to the Board of Supervisors in accordance with this Section. An action of the Commission so appealed from shall not become effective unless and until approved by the Board of Supervisors in accordance with this Section.
(b) Notice of Appeal. Any appeal under this Section shall be taken by filing written notice of appeal with the Board of Supervisors within 30 days after the date of action by the Planning Commission. The notice of appeal shall be subscribed by either (i) the owners of at least 20% of the property affected by the proposed amendment or Conditional Use or (ii) five members of the Board of Supervisors. The signature on the appeal of members of the Board shall not be deemed to be any indication of their position on the merits of the appeal but rather shall indicate only that they believe there is sufficient public interest and concern in the matter to warrant a hearing by the Board of Supervisors. For the purposes of this Section, the property affected shall be calculated as follows:
(1) When a proposed amendment or Conditional Use has been disapproved by the Planning Commission, the property affected shall be deemed to be all property within the area that is the subject of the application for amendment or Conditional Use, and within 300 feet of all exterior boundaries of the property that is the subject of the application;
(2) When a proposed Conditional Use has been approved by the Planning Commission, the property affected shall be deemed to be all property within 300 feet of all exterior boundaries of the property for which the Conditional Use has been approved by the Planning Commission, excluding the property for which the approval has been given;
(3) In either of the above cases, when any property is owned by the City and County of San Francisco, the United States Government or the State of California, or any department or agency thereof, or by any special district, and is located within 300 feet of the area that is the subject of the application for amendment or Conditional Use, such property shall be excluded in determining the property affected unless such owner shall itself be a subscriber of the notice of appeal; and
(4) Wherever a property is held in joint ownership, the signatures of joint owners shall be calculated as representing affected property in direct proportion to the amount of the total ownership of that property attributable to the joint owner or owners subscribing to the notice of appeal. For the purposes of this calculation, the term “joint ownership” shall include joint tenancies, interests in common, community property, partnerships, stock cooperatives, condominiums, community apartments and planned unit developments. Where each owner has exclusive rights to a portion of the property, the proportion of the total ownership attributable to that owner shall be calculated in terms of a ratio of the floor area and land area in which that owner has exclusive, joint and common rights to the total floor area and land area of that property. Under these calculations, the land area of an affected property in joint ownership shall be given the same weight as the land area of an affected property not in joint ownership, in determining whether 20% of the property affected is represented by signatures to the notice of appeal.
(c) Hearing. Upon the filing of such written notice of appeal so subscribed, the Board of Supervisors or the Clerk thereof shall set a time and place for hearing such appeal, which shall be not less than 10 nor more than 30 days after such filing. Provided, that if the Board of Supervisors does not conduct at least three regular Board meetings during the 30 day period referred to in the previous sentence, the Board of Supervisors or the Clerk shall schedule the appeal not more than 40 days (rather than 30 days) after the filing of such written notice of appeal. The Board of Supervisors must decide such appeal within 30 days of the time set for the hearing thereon, provided that, if the full membership of the Board is not present on the last day on which said appeal is set or continued for hearing within said period, the Board may postpone said hearing and decision thereon until, but not later than, the full membership of the Board is present; provided further, that the latest date to which said hearing and decision may be so postponed shall be not more than 90 days from the date of filing of the appeal. Provided, that if the Board of Supervisors does not conduct at least three regular Board meetings during the 30 day period referred to in the previous sentence, the Board of Supervisors must decide such appeal within 40 days (rather than 30 days) of the time set for the hearing thereon. Failure of the Board of Supervisors to act within such time limit shall be deemed to constitute approval by the Board of the action of the Planning Commission.
(d) Decision. In acting upon an appeal of a Planning Commission determination on a request for reclassification by an interested party, the Board of Supervisors may disapprove the action of the Planning Commission only by a vote of not less than 2/3 of all members of the Board. In acting upon any other appeal of a Planning Commission determination on a Planning Code amendment, the Board of Supervisors may disapprove the action of the Planning Commission by a majority vote of the Board. In both cases, in the event that one or more of the full membership of the Board is disqualified or excused from voting because of an interest prohibited by general law or the San Francisco Charter, any such disapproval shall be by a vote of all members of the Board that are not disqualified or excused; provided, however, that in the event that a quorum of all members of the Board is disqualified or excused from voting because of an interest prohibited by general law or the Charter, the action of the Planning Commission shall be deemed approved. In the event the Board disapproves the action of the Commission when the Commission has disapproved in whole or in part a proposed amendment, the Board shall, not later than its next regularly scheduled meeting, adopt the proposed ordinance. In the event the Board disapproves the action of the Commission when the Commission has disapproved in whole or in part a proposed conditional use, the Board shall prescribe in its resolution such conditions as are in its opinion necessary to secure the objectives of this Code, in accordance with Section 303(d).
(Amended by Ord. 443-78, App. 10/6/78; Ord. 69-87, App. 3/13/87; Ord. 321-96, App. 8/8/96; Ord. 121-01, File No. 010271, App. 6/1/2001; Ord. 277-03, File No. 031497, App. 12/12/2003; Ord. 129-17, File No. 170203, App. 6/30/2017, Eff. 7/30/2017; Ord. 202-18, File No. 180557, App. 8/10/2018, Eff. 9/10/2018)
AMENDMENT HISTORY