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Any department authorized to issue, revoke or transfer permits or to act on applications for any of said purposes, may detail such members or employees of said department as are required for the investigation and inspection of applications for permits subject to issuance by said department, and for the inspection or regulation of the conduct of any business or occupation, under such permit. Any department may revoke any permit subject to issuance by said department when it shall appear that the business or calling of the person, firm, or corporation to whom it was granted is conducted in a disorderly, improper or hazardous manner, or that the place in which the business is conducted or maintained is not a proper or suitable place in which to conduct or maintain such business or calling.
The Police Commission and the Fire Commission, respectively, shall serve as advisory boards to the Chief of Police and the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, respectively, in the hearings on permit applications, transfers and proposed revocations required by Section 22 of this Article, and each of said advisory boards shall make such recommendation to the head of the department concerned as in its judgment the facts established by any such hearing shall warrant.
(Amended by Ord. 2928, App. 10/9/44)
(a) Subject to subsection (b), in the granting or denying of any permit, or the revoking or the refusing to revoke any permit, the granting or revoking power may take into consideration the effect of the proposed business or calling upon surrounding property and upon its residents, and inhabitants thereof; and in granting or denying said permit, or revoking or refusing to revoke a permit, may exercise its sound discretion as to whether said permit should be granted, transferred, denied, or revoked.
(b) In the granting or denying of any permit, or the revoking or the refusing to revoke any permit with respect to a "dwelling" in which "protected class members" are likely to reside (each as defined in Administrative Code Chapter 87), the granting or revoking power shall comply with the requirements of San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 87 which requires, among other things, that the granting or revoking power not base any decision regarding the development of "dwellings" in which "protected class" members are likely to reside on information which may be discriminatory to any member of a "protected class" (As all such terms are defined in San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 87).
(c) A department authorized to issue or transfer permits shall not issue or transfer a permit to any person who does not have a current business tax registration certificate when such person is required to obtain a business tax registration certificate pursuant to Section 1003 of Part III of the San Francisco Municipal Code.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this Section, the provisions of Article 15.1 (Entertainment Regulations Permit and License Provisions) and Article 15.2 (Entertainment Regulations for Extended-Hours Premises) of the Police Code shall govern actions taken on the granting, denial, amendment, suspension and revocation of permits regulated under those Articles, not the standards set forth in Subsection (a).
(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the provisions of Planning Code Section 343 shall govern actions taken on the granting, denial, amendment, suspension, and revocation of permits regulated under that Section 343, not the standards set forth in subsection (a) of this Section 26. This subsection (e) shall become operative upon receipt of preliminary approval of Planning Code Section 343 by the California Department of Housing and Community Development under California Government Code Section 66202. This subsection shall expire by the operation of law in accordance with the provisions of Planning Code Section 343(k). Upon its expiration, the City Attorney shall cause this subsection to be removed from the Business and Tax Regulations Code.
(Amended by Ord. 345-88, App. 8/4/88; Ord. 307-99, File No. 990498, App. 12/3/99; Ord. 239-09, File No. 080323, App. 11/20/2009; Ord. 281-18, File No. 180453, App. 12/7/2018, Eff. 1/7/2019, Oper. 1/7/2019; Ord. 116-19, File No. 181156, App. 6/28/2019, Eff. 7/29/2019; Ord. 62-24, File No. 230310, App. 3/28/2024, Eff. 4/28/2024)
Persons applying for permits enumerated in Section 22 of this Article which are subject to the approval of the Fire Department shall, upon filing the application, pay a fee of $27 to cover the posting and advertising costs of said application, which fee shall be paid to the department to which said application is made.
(Amended by Ord. 13-85, App. 1/11/85)
All applications for the classes of permits referred to in Section 22 of this Article and applications for the transfer thereof, also notice to revoke same, except in any case where such proposed revocation is due to the failure to pay the license or permit fees fixed by law or ordinance, shall be published once in the official newspaper of the City and County, within 10 days after the filing thereof with the department concerned. The cost of the publication of applications for permits and applications for transfer of permits shall be paid by the applicant at the time of filing. The cost charged shall be the rate for such publication set by the official newspaper in effect on the date of application.
(Amended by Ord. 175-80, App. 5/2/80)
Written notice of the issuance of all other permits by departments shall be posted for a period of five successive days by the department issuing such permit on a bulletin board to be maintained in a conspicuous place accessible to the public in the office where the original application is filed.
The issuance, revocation or transfer of any permit enumerated in Section 22 of this Article shall not take effect until 10 days after action thereon, during which period appeal may be made to the Board of Appeals from the action taken by the department concerned.
(Amended by Ord. 128-97, App. 4/9/97)
On the issuance, denial or revocation of any permit, any applicant for a permit who is denied such permit, or any permittee whose permit is ordered revoked, or any person who deems that his interest or property, or that the general public interest will be adversely affected as the result of operations authorized by or under any permit granted or issued, or the transfer thereof, may appeal to the Board of Appeals. Such appeal shall be in writing, and except for variances, shall be filed with the Board of Appeals not later than 15 days after the action of the department from which the appeal is taken. An appeal from the decision on a variance shall be filed with the Board of Appeals not later than 10 days after the action of the Zoning Administrator.
The form and notice of said appeal, and the procedure thereon, shall be as provided by ordinance, and when not so provided then in such form as is provided by the Board of Appeals.
(Amended by Ord. 255-88, App. 6/22/88; Ord. 128-97, App. 4/9/97)
Whenever any person, firm or corporation shall make application for any permit, pursuant to the provisions of this Article, and said permit shall be denied by any officer, board, department or commission having jurisdiction so to do, and no appeal from the denial of said permit shall be taken, as provided in this Article, or when any appeal shall be taken to the Board of Appeals from any action or order of any officer, board, department or commission granting or denying any permit in connection with which appeal to the Board of Appeals is provided for and said Board of Appeals shall, in the instance where said permit has been granted, overrule, and in the instance where such permit had been denied, concur in, the judgment or order of said officer, board, department or commission, said application for said permit, nor for a like permit covering the same location, shall not be renewed nor shall the same be heard by the officer, board, department or commission to whom or to which the original application was made until the expiration of one year from the date of the action on said original application by said officer, board, department or commission and there shall be no appeal to said Board of Appeals for failure or refusal to hear any such application within said one-year period, provided that when any permit is denied by reason of definite existing conditions which prevent the granting of said permit, and said conditions are removed or remedied, the one-year's prohibition against reapplication will not apply.
(Amended by Ord. 992, App. 1/14/41; Ord. 128-97, App. 4/9/97)
(a) General Requirement. City departments that are responsible for reviewing permit applications for the establishment, modification, and/or operation of a principally permitted storefront commercial use shall develop a process for the coordinated and streamlined review of those permit applications, with timely responses from applicants, and any inspections required in connection with the applications, in order to (1) ensure that San Francisco’s commercial corridors remain thriving, (2) support existing businesses in adapting their business models in a changing economic environment, (3) improve access for business owners from all backgrounds to successfully open their business in San Francisco, and (4) protect the City’s tax base.
(b) Deadline for Implementation of Coordinated and Simplified Review Process. The City departments subject to this Section 32 include, but are not limited to, the Planning Department, Department of Building Inspection, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, and Health Department. No later than 30 days from the effective date of this Section 32, the subject City departments shall implement a coordinated and simplified process for the review of all applications for principally permitted storefront commercial uses, and shall periodically review and update the process.
(c) Concurrent Review of Complete Permit Applications. Relevant departments shall perform a concurrent review of the permit application, when such review would reduce the length of the permit review process, provided the applicant submits a complete and accurate application. To the maximum extent feasible, this review shall be completed within 30 days of the date a complete application is submitted. If this review is not or cannot be completed within 30 days, the reason or reasons therefor shall be provided to the applicant, explaining why a decision could not be made on the permit application, the necessary steps to complete review, and the time needed to finalize review after receiving any additional information necessary to complete such review.
(d) Pre-Approval Inspections. If inspection of the proposed use is required before operation may begin, the inspection shall be limited to compliance with the items on an adopted checklist of objective threshold requirements for business operation. To the maximum extent feasible, the City departments involved shall coordinate their inspections and schedule them within two weeks of a request. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Municipal Code, an applicant may submit an inspection report by a qualified entity as determined and authorized by the head of the reviewing Department.
(e) Conditional Approvals. Where only minor corrective action is required before the proposed use may operate, a reviewing City department shall grant conditional approval so long as the Director of the department has found that no substantial hazard will result from operation of the use, or portion thereof. If the minor corrective action is not completed within a reasonable amount of time, as determined by the Director of the department, the failure to perform the corrective action shall be deemed a code violation which may be abated pursuant to the requirements of the applicable code.
(f) Expedited Process and Waiver of Additional Fees Where Department Error Results in Additional Review. Where a reviewing City department has made a significant error late in the application process in interpreting code requirements or determining the approvals required, and the error affects the timeliness of the City’s review, as determined by the Director of the involved department, the department shall expedite the additional review. In addition, notwithstanding any other provision of the Municipal Code, said department shall waive any fees applicable to the additional review. If the applicant or agent submits false or misleading information, no fee waiver shall apply.
(Added by Proposition H, 11/3/2020, Eff. 12/18/2020; amended by Ord. 111-21, File No. 210285, App. 8/4/2021, Eff. 9/4/2021)
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