Zoning Variance Hearing

Provide your public comment

1. You will be given a certain amount of time to provide your comments – you will be alerted when you have 30 seconds remaining.
2. Once your comment time has ended, you will be moved out of sequence and back to listening (unless you disconnect).
3. If you wish to speak on other items, or other comment periods, stay on the meeting line and listen for the next public comment prompt.

If you no longer want to comment

• PHONE: Press * 3 (star 3) to lower your hand
• ONLINE: Click "raise hand" icon again

Accessible Meeting Information

LOCATION: Hearings are held in Room 408 at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place in San Francisco. City Hall is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and other assistive mobility devices. Ramps are available at the Grove, Van Ness and McAllister entrances. A wheelchair lift is available at the Polk Street entrance.
TRANSIT: The nearest accessible BART station is Civic Center. Accessible MUNI Metro lines are the F, J, K, L, M, N, T (exit at Civic Center or Van Ness stations). MUNI bus routes also serving the area are the 5, 6, 9, 19, 21, 47, 49, 71, and 71L. For more information regarding MUNI accessible services, call (415) 701-4485 or call 311.
PARKING: Accessible parking is available at the Civic Center Underground Parking Garage (McAllister and Polk), and at the Performing Arts Parking Garage (Grove and Franklin). Accessible curbside parking spaces are located all around City Hall. 
ALLERGIES: In order to assist the City in accommodating persons with severe allergies, environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity, or related disabilities, please refrain from wearing scented products (e.g., perfume and scented lotions) to hearings.

Know Your Rights under the Sunshine Ordinance

Government's duty is to serve the public, reaching its decisions in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people's business. This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people's review.
For more information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance (S.F. Administrative Code Chapter 67) or to report a violation of the ordinance, contact the Sunshine Task Force at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 409; phone (415) 554-7724; fax (415) 554-7854; or e-mail at sotf@sfgov.org. Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force or the San Francisco Library.

Cell Phone and/or Sound-Producing Electronic Devices Usage at Hearings

Effective January 21, 2001, the Board of Supervisors amended the Sunshine Ordinance by adding the following provision: The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers and similar sound-producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager, or other similar sound-producing devices.

Language Assistance

ENGLISH: For language assistance or to request an assistive device for a hearing, please call (628) 652-7550. Please make requests at least 48 hours in advance of the hearing.
SPANISH: Si desea asistir a la audiencia, y quisiera obtener información en Español o solicitar un aparato para asistencia auditiva, llame al (628) 652-7550. Por favor llame por lo menos 48 horas de anticipación a la audiencia.
CHINESE: 聽證會上如需要語言協助或要求輔助設備，請致電 (628) 652-7550。請在聽證會舉行之前的至少 48個小時提出要求。
TAGALOG: Para sa tulong sa lengguwahe o para humiling ng Pantulong na Kagamitan para sa Pagdinig (headset), mangyari lamang na tumawag sa (628) 652-7550. Mangyaring tumawag nang maaga (kung maaari ay 48 oras) bago sa araw ng Pagdinig.
RUSSIAN: За помощью переводчика или за вспомогательным слуховым устройством на время слушаний обращайтесь по номеру (628) 652-7550. Запросы должны делаться минимум за 48 часов до начала слушания
TIẾNG VIỆT: Lịch Họp của Ủy Ban. Để được hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ hoặc yêu cầu Thiết Bị Hỗ Trợ Nghe, vui lòng gọi số (628) 652-7589. Vui lòng gọi ít nhất 48 giờ trước phiên điều trần.

Hearing Procedures

The Zoning Administrator typically holds Variance Hearings on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m., at the San Francisco City Hall, Room 408. City Hall is located at One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102. Hearings are open to the public.
At the hearing, the Project Sponsor (Variance Applicant) will be given 5 minutes to present their case, including relevant testimony and evidence. The hearing room is equipped with a laptop and projector that can display photographs, architectural plans or other drawings and images. Members of the public will be given 3 minutes each to speak on the item. If a member of the public speaks against an item, the Project Sponsor will be given a 3-minute rebuttal.
Persons attending a hearing may comment on any scheduled item. When speaking, a timer is used for each speaker and indicates how much time remains. Speakers will hear a notification indicating that the speaker’s opportunity to address the Zoning Administrator is about to end or has ended.
Some items may appear on the Consent Calendar. These items are considered routine and may be granted by the Zoning Administrator. There is no separate discussion of consent items unless the Zoning Administrator, member of the public or staff so requests, in which event the matter is removed from the Consent Calendar and will be moved to the Regular Calendar on the Agenda. 
In addition, the Zoning Administrator may consider a request for continuance to a later date. They may choose to continue the item to the date proposed, to continue the item to another date, or to hear the item on this calendar.
After all the testimonies are submitted, the Zoning Administrator will consider the evidence, deliberate, and either make a decision, take the matter under advisement, or continue the matter in order for additional information to be presented.
Each hearing ends with general public comment, at which time members of the public may address the Zoning Administrator for up to 3 minutes on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Zoning Administrator, except Agenda items. With respect to Agenda items, your opportunity to address the Zoning Administrator will be afforded when the item is reached during the meeting.

Decision Letter and Appeal Process

No decision is final until a Variance Decision Letter is issued. Due to current backlogs, decision letters may take up to 2 months to complete from the date of the hearing. The Zoning Administrator's action to grant or deny a variance application may be appealed to the Board of Appeals within 10 days of the date of the Decision Letter. For more information on how to file an appeal, contact the San Francisco Board of Appeals in person at 49 South Van Ness Avenue, Suite 1475, or contact by phone at (628) 652-1150, or email boardofappeals@sfgov.org.
If any members of the public would like to receive a copy of the signed Variance Decision Letter via email, send a request by email addressed to the Planner assigned to the case. The name of the Planner can be found on this Agenda, in the notice that you received in the mail, or in the poster posted on the subject property.

Protest of Fee or Exaction

You may protest any fee or exaction subject to Government Code Section 66000 imposed as a condition of approval in accordance with Government Code Section 66020. The protest must satisfy the requirements of California Government Code Section 66020(a) and must be filed within 90 days of the date of the first approval or conditional approval of the development referencing the challenged fee or exaction. For purposes of Government Code Section 66020, the date of imposition of the fee shall be the date of the earliest discretionary approval by the City of the subject development.
The Zoning Administrator’s approval or conditional approval of the development subject to the challenged fee or exaction as expressed in its Motion, Resolution, or Discretionary Review Action or the Zoning Administrator’s Variance Decision Letter will serve as notice that the 90-day protest period under Government Code Section 66020 has begun.

Challenges

Pursuant to California Government Code Section 65009, if you challenge, in court, (1) the adoption or amendment of a general plan, (2) the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance, (3) the adoption or amendment of any regulation attached to a specific plan, (4) the adoption, amendment or modification of a development agreement, or (5) the approval of a variance, conditional-use authorization, or any permit, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Zoning Administrator or Planning Commission, at, or prior to, the public hearing

CEQA Appeal Rights under Chapter 31 of the San Francisco Administrative Code

If the Zoning Administrator’s or Commission’s action on a project constitutes the Approval Action for that project as defined in S.F. Administrative Code Chapter 31 (as amended, Board of Supervisors Ordinance Number 161-13), then the CEQA determination prepared in support of that Approval Action is thereafter subject to appeal within the time frame specified in Section 31.16. This appeal is separate from and in addition to an appeal of an action on a project. Typically, an appeal must be filed within 30 calendar days of the Approval Action for a project that has received an exemption or negative declaration pursuant to CEQA. 
For information on filing an appeal under Chapter 31, contact the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244, San Francisco, CA, 94102, or call (415) 554-5184.
If the Environmental Review Officer has deemed a project to be exempt from further environmental review, an exemption determination has been prepared and can be obtained online. Under CEQA, in a later court challenge, a litigant may be limited to raising only those issues previously raised at a hearing on the project or in written correspondence delivered to the Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, Planning Department or other City board, commission or department at, or prior to, such hearing, or as part of the appeal hearing process on the CEQA decision.

Personal information that is provided in communications to the Planning Department is subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act and the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance. Personal information provided will not be redacted. 
Members of the public are not required to provide personal identifying information when they communicate with the Planning Department and its hearing bodies. All written or oral communications that members of the public submit to the Department regarding projects or hearings will be made available to all members of the public for inspection and copying. The Department does not redact any information from these submissions. This means that personal information including names, phone numbers, addresses and similar information that a member of the public elects to submit to the Department and its hearing bodies may appear on our website or in other public documents that members of the public may inspect or copy.

Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance (S.F. Administration Code Section 67.29-4) to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the Ethics Commission at 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite #220, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone (415) 554-9510 or fax (415) 703-0121.