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The voters may amend or repeal this Chapter 4. The Board of Supervisors may amend this Chapter 4 if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) The amendment furthers the purposes of this Chapter;
(b) The Ethics Commission approves the proposed amendment in advance by at least a four-fifths vote of all its members;
(c) The proposed amendment is available for public review at least 30 days before the amendment is considered by the Board of Supervisors or any committee of the Board of Supervisors; and
(d) The Board of Supervisors approves the proposed amendment by at least a two-thirds vote of all its members.
(Added by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
“Client” means the person for whom permit consulting services are performed by a permit consultant.
“Contact” means any communication, oral or written, including communication made through an agent, associate or employee. A “contact” shall not include a request for information, as long as the request does not include any attempt to influence an administrative or legislative decision.
“Major project” means any project located in the City and County which has actual or estimated construction costs exceeding $1,000,000 and which requires a permit issued by the Department of Building Inspection or the Planning Department. Estimated construction costs shall be calculated in the same manner used to determine building permit fees under the Building Code.
“Minor Project” means any project located in the City and County which requires a permit issued by the Entertainment Commission.
“Permit consultant” is any individual who receives or is promised compensation to provide permit consulting services to commence on or after January 1, 2015 on a Major Project or a Minor Project. This includes any employee who receives compensation attributable to time spent on permit consulting services. This does not include:
(1) The licensed architect or engineer of record for construction activity allowed or contemplated by the permit, or an employee of the architect or engineer;
(2) The contractor who will be responsible for all construction activity associated with the requested permit; or
(3) The employee or agent of an organization with tax exempt status under 26 United States Code Section 501(c)(3) communicating on behalf of that organization regarding the development of a project for that organization.
“Permit consulting services” means any contact with the Department of Building Inspection, the Entertainment Commission, the Planning Department, or the Department of Public Works to help a permit applicant obtain a permit.
(Added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(Former Sec. 3.405 added by Ord. 18-03, File No. 020969, App. 2/7/2003; repealed by Proposition E, 11/4/2003)
(a) REGISTRATION OF PERMIT CONSULTANTS REQUIRED. Permit consultants shall register with the Ethics Commission and comply with the disclosure requirements imposed by this Chapter. Such registration shall occur no later than five business days after providing permit consulting services, but the permit consultant shall register prior to providing any further permit consulting services.
(b) REGISTRATION. At the time of initial registration each permit consultant shall report to the Ethics Commission the following information:
(1) The name, business address, e-mail address, and business telephone number of the permit consultant;
(2) The name, business address, e-mail address, and business telephone number of each client for whom the permit consultant is performing permit consulting services;
(3) The name, business address, e-mail address, and business telephone number of the permit consultant’s employer, firm or business affiliation; and
(4) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
(c) PERMIT CONSULTANT DISCLOSURES. Beginning on April 15, 2015, each permit consultant shall file four quarterly reports, according to the following schedule: the permit consultant shall file a report on April 15 for the period starting January 1 and ending March 31; on July 15 for the period starting April 1 and ending June 30; on October 15 for the period starting July 1 and ending September 30; and on January 15 for the period starting October 1 and ending December 31. Each quarterly report shall contain the following:
(1) The name, business address, e-mail address, and business telephone number of each person from whom the permit consultant or the permit consultant’s employer received or expected to receive economic consideration for permit consulting services during the reporting period, and the amount of economic consideration the permit consultant received or expected to receive;
(2) For each contact with the Department of Building Inspection, the Entertainment Commission, the Planning Department, or the Department of Public Works in the course of providing permit consulting services during the reporting period:
(A) The name of each officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco with whom the permit consultant made contact;
(B) A description of the permit sought or obtained, including the application number for the permit; and
(C) The client on whose behalf the contact was made.
(3) All political contributions of $100 or more made by the permit consultant or the permit consultant’s employer during the reporting period to an officer of the City and County, a candidate for such office, a committee controlled by such officer or candidate, a committee primarily formed to support or oppose such officer or candidate, or any committee primarily formed to support or oppose a ballot measure to be voted on only in San Francisco.
(4) Any amendments to the permit consultant’s registration information required by Subsection (b).
(5) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(a) If any permit consultant fails to submit any information required by this Chapter after any applicable deadline, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, impose a late filing fee of $50 per day after the deadline until the information is received by the Ethics Commission. The Executive Director of the Ethics Commission may reduce or waive a late filing fee if the Executive Director determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement will not further the purposes of this Chapter. The Ethics Commission shall deposit funds collected under this Section in the General Fund of the City and County of San Francisco.
(b) Any person who violates this Chapter may be liable in an administrative proceeding before the Ethics Commission pursuant to Charter Section C3.699-13. In addition to the administrative penalties set forth in the Charter, the Ethics Commission may issue warning letters regarding potential violations of this Chapter to the permit consultant.
(c) Any person or entity which knowingly or negligently violates this Chapter may be liable in a civil action brought by the City Attorney for an amount up to $5,000 per violation.
(Added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted and amended by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
The Ethics Commission may require electronic filing of any disclosure required under this Chapter 4.
(Added by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(Former Sec. 3.420 added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; repealed by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
Findings. | |
Definitions. | |
Required Disclosure. | |
Electronic Filing of Disclosures. | |
Penalties and Enforcement. |
The Board of Supervisors finds that public disclosure of the donations that developers make to nonprofit organizations that may communicate with the City and County regarding major development projects is essential to protect public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of City and County land use decisions. The Board further finds that disclosure is essential to allow the public to fully and fairly evaluate the City and County’s land use decisions. It is the purpose and intent of this Chapter to impose reasonable disclosure requirements on developers to provide the public with information about these donations.
(Added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(Former Sec. 3.500 added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; repealed by Proposition E, 11/4/2003)
(a) The amendment furthers the purposes of this Chapter;
(b) The Ethics Commission approves the proposed amendment in advance by at least a four-fifths vote of all its members;
(c) The proposed amendment is available for public review at least 30 days before the amendment is considered by the Board of Supervisors or any committee of the Board of Supervisors; and
(d) The Board of Supervisors approves the proposed amendment by at least a two-thirds vote of all its members.
(Added by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(Former Sec. 3.505 added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; repealed by Proposition E, 11/4/2003)
“Affiliate” shall mean any individual or entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with, another entity, and for these purposes “control” means the power to direct the affairs or management of another entity, whether by contract, operation of law or otherwise.
“CEQA” shall mean the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code Section 21,000 et seq.), the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3, Section 15000 et seq.), and Chapter 31 of the San Francisco Administrative Code, as any of them may be amended.
“Developer” shall mean the individual or entity that is the project sponsor responsible for filing a completed Environmental Evaluation Application with the Planning Department (or other lead agency) under CEQA for a major project. For any project sponsor that is an entity, “Developer” shall include all of its constituent individuals or entities that have decision-making authority regarding any of the entity’s major decisions or actions. By way of example and without limitation, if the project sponsor is a limited liability company, each of its members is considered a developer for purposes of the requirements of this Chapter, and similarly if the project sponsor is a partnership, each of its general partners is considered a developer for purposes of the requirements of this Chapter. If the owner or agent that signs and submits the Environmental Evaluation Application will not be responsible for obtaining the entitlements or developing the major project, then for purposes of the requirements of this Chapter the developer shall be instead the individual or entity that is responsible for obtaining the entitlements for the major project.
“Donation” shall mean any gift of money, property, goods or services.
“EIR” shall mean an environmental impact report prepared under CEQA. For purposes of this Chapter, an EIR shall also include, without limitation, any CEQA determination that the Planning Department or Planning Commission (or other appropriate lead agency) makes to allow consideration of approval of a major project to proceed under an EIR, a previously certified program EIR, master EIR or staged EIR.
“Entity” shall mean any partnership, corporation (including, but not limited to, any business trust or nonprofit corporation), limited liability company, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated association, joint venture or any other organization or association. “Entity” shall not include any state or local government agency.
“Major project” shall mean a real estate development project located in the City and County for which the City’s Planning Commission (or any other local lead agency) has certified an EIR under CEQA and which has estimated construction costs exceeding $1,000,000. As used in the preceding sentence, the term “real estate development project” includes any project involving construction of one or more new structures or an addition to one or more existing structures, change of use within one or more existing structures, or substantial rehabilitation of one or more existing structures, where, in any such instance, the structure includes any occupiable floor area, excluding only a residential development project with four or fewer dwelling units. Estimated construction costs shall be calculated in the same manner used to determine building permit fees under the Building Code.
“Nonprofit organization” shall mean any corporation formed under California Corporations Code Section 5000 et seq. for any public or charitable purpose, or any organization described in 26 United States Code Section 501(c).
“Structure” shall have the same meaning as the Planning Code defines such term.
(Added by Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)
(Former Sec. 3.510 added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; repealed by Proposition E, 11/4/2003)
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