They are requested by property owners, developers, architects, land use attorneys and members of the public, inquiring about the zoning regulations applicable to specific development proposals. This type of letter is more simplistic in nature than a Letter of Determination. A Rebuild Letter is a form of Zoning Verification Letter that states that a subject building can be restored to its original condition and use in the event the property is destroyed by fire or any other form of natural disaster.
The fee for this type of letter is the same as the fee for a Zoning Verification Letter. Top of Page. Expanded in-person over the counter services are now available at the Permit Center. Find more information on our services here. Here the administrator investigates proposed amendments of zoning and reports his findings to the planning director.
Amendments, Action. The Zoning Administrator shall make necessary studies and investigations of each such proposal and shall submit his findings thereon to the Director of Planning prior to the hearing. The Director of Planning shall submit his own report and recommendation at the hearing. In addition, it is the administrator's responsibility to set the time and place for hearings on zoning changes which are held by the planning commission.
Upon the proposal of an amendment by the Board of Supervisors, the filing of an application for amendment, or the adoption of a resolution of intention by the planning commission, it shall be the duty of the Zoning Administrator to set a time and place for a hearing thereon before the Planning Commission.
Investigating each proposed zoning change is often time consuming and, under certain conditions, can interfere with other more important functions of the administrator.
In Los Angeles, for example, the zoning administrator was originally delegated this responsibility. Now, however, he is not. The Los Angeles zoning administrator points out in this context that: "The tremendous increase in request for zoning changes resulting from urbanization of agriculturally zoned areas after the war coupled with other incidental problems so deluged the administrator that he could not.
Smutz, "Is Zoning Wagging the Dog? Other localities have elected not to involve the zoning administrator in zoning changes. The choice of whether to add this responsibility to the office as in Baltimore County , or to delegate only routine functions to it as in San Francisco , depends in large measure on the needs and circumstances prevailing in the community.
Another important responsibility which may be assigned to the zoning administrator is the enforcement of the ordinance. In Baltimore County, the zoning administrator grants or denies building and occupancy permits, a responsibility usually handled by the building department. All Applications to the Building Engineer for building permits shall be submitted to the Zoning Commissioner for approval by him as to Zoning before any permit shall be issued.
Before approving any such application, the Zoning Commissioner shall satisfy himself that the application is in proper form and contains all necessary information, and that the proposed building or use of land, building, or structure, complies in all respects with the regulations then in effect with respect to zoning. He may also initiate court action against construction or alteration of structures in violation with the provisions of the ordinance.
This provision is stated as follows:. The zoning administrator's enforcement powers, however, can be much greater, as illustrated by the San Francisco ordinance. The San Francisco zoning administrator is charged with carrying out enforcement policies established by the planning commission. The San Francisco ordinance sets the basic guidelines and gives authority for the establishment of enforcement policies.
The Planning Commission shall have authority to establish from time to time such policies, rule and regulations, not in conflict with the Charter of the City, as it deems necessary to secure the proper administration and enforcement of this Code. It shall be the duty of the Zoning Administrator to comply herewith, and he shall make regular reports to the Commission through the Director of Planning concerning all applications received, and his disposal thereof and the reasons for his decisions.
Following the policy statement, the ordinance outlines the procedures which must be followed by the zoning administrator in enforcing the ordinance. Inspection of Premises. In the performance of his duties, the Zoning Administrator and employees of the Department properly authorized to represent him shall have the right to enter any building or premises for the purposes of investigation and inspection.
Co-operation With Other Departments. The Zoning Administrator shall furnish to the various departments, officers or employees of the City vested with the duty of authority to issue permits or licenses such information as will insure the proper administration of this Code and of the rulings and determinations of the Department of City Planning relative thereto.
It shall be the duty of said departments, officers and employees to co-operate with the Zoning Administrator in the performance of his duties. Methods of Enforcement.
The Zoning Administrator shall have the authority to implement the enforcement thereof by any of the following means:. In addition to any of the foregoing remedies, the City Attorney may maintain an action for injunction to restrain or abatement to cause the correction or removal of any violation of this Code. The ordinance clearly states that the zoning administrator is required not only to withhold permits when applicable, but also to take steps to remove violations when they occur.
The enforcement powers delegated to the zoning administrator are complemented by the cooperation of both the legal and police departments, which are necessary in meeting this specific provision of the ordinance. The San Francisco experience is unique among the ordinances reviewed for this report and illustrates that considerable responsibility can be given to a zoning administrator for enforcement. With the exception of Pittsburgh, the zoning administrator in the ordinances reviewed not only decides variances and special exceptions or conditional uses but also conducts public hearings.
Such hearings, however, are not always mandatory. In some ordinances they are optional, held at the discretion of the administrator; in others, they are either optional or mandatory depending on the specific circumstances.
Provisions for mandatory public hearings are illustrated by the Spokane County and San Francisco ordinances. In both cases hearings are always held before deciding either variances except when the variation requested is minor or conditional uses.
The Spokane County ordinance states this requirement as follows:. Upon the filing of applications for conditional use permit or variation [sic] the board of adjustment [whose powers have now been transferred to the zoning adjuster] shall set the time and place for a public hearing on such matters. Administrative Exception. An administrative exception not to exceed one foot of any dimensional standard pertinent to front yard, side yard, rear yard, flanking street, and building line may be granted by administrative action of the Board of Adjustment without public hearing and without posting of public notices.
Upon the filing of a verified application, the Zoning Administrator shall set a reasonable time not to exceed thirty 30 days thereafter for considering the same and shall give notice thereof to the applicant and may give notice to any other interested person. If the variance requested is solely for a modification of any regulation of this Code which is expressed by a number or in terms of a ratio, fraction or percentage, and involves a deviation from the expressed requirement of less than ten 10 per cent of such number, ratio, fraction or percentage, the determination of the Zoning Administrator may be made without holding a public hearing.
In all other cases, a public hearing shall be held. The zoning administrator in San Francisco may also be delegated the power to hold hearings for conditional uses even though these uses are decided only by the planning commission.
The ordinance states:. The Planning Commission may delegate to a committee of one or more of its members, or to the Zoning Administrator, the holding of the hearing required in b. The delegate or delegates shall submit to the Commission a record of the hearing, together with a report of findings and recommendations relative thereto, for the consideration of the Commission in acting upon the authorization of the conditional use.
In practice, however, because of time and staff limitations, hearings are held by the planning commission. The responsibility of the zoning administrator is usually limited to setting the time and place of hearings. The Zoning Administrator shall set a reasonable time and place for the public hearing and shall give notice of the time, place and purpose of each such hearing in the same manner as provided for hearings on the reclassification of property in Section A record of pertinent information presented at the public hearing shall be made and maintained as part of the permanent record relative to the application.
When the ordinance specifies conditional uses, the zones in which they may be permitted, and the conditions for granting permits, then a mandatory public hearing requirement may be unnecessary. As an example, the Baltimore County ordinance, which originally required hearings for special exceptions, was amended in dropping this requirement.
As new revenues become sufficient to cover these costs, the limited tenure positions could be phased in. NSRs serve to inform current owners and future owners of properties as to limitations on uses of properties. NSRs are used in conjunction with Planning Commission cases, such as conditional use approvals and discretionary reviews of building permit applications to record conditions of approval and special restrictions.
NSRs are also used by the Zoning Administrator to record restrictions against variance approvals and, to a much lesser degree today than in the past, by the Neighborhood Planning Division to record restrictions or limitations against building permit applications. Shown in Exhibit For the years through , the Planning Department recorded an average of However, for the years through , the average number of NSRs recorded dropped to According to the Zoning Administrator, the reason for the precipitous reduction is that a previous Zoning Administrator decided that the time involved in developing restrictions and the administrative tasks in having them recorded was not worth the effort, because the Planning Department did not have the staff to enforce them.
Therefore, beginning in calendar year and continuing to the present, NSRs are primarily required only for conditional use approvals, variances, and discretionary review conditions of approval. According to the Zoning Administrator, not requiring NSRs for interior modifications that don"t enlarge the building envelope enables the Planning Department to process such applications "over-the-counter" at the Planning Information Center on the first floor of Mission Street, thereby improving service for building permit applicants.
However, the increase in service comes at a cost. According to DBI, complaints of illegal units are much easier to verify and abate if an NSR has been recorded against a property. The NSR provides straightforward, unequivocal evidence of what is permitted with respect to construction, which, for example, can lead to an illegal unit. The Enforcement Unit of the Planning Department is insufficiently staffed to effectively manage the Planning Code enforcement workloads of new cases, servicing the current caseload of approximately cases, and bringing a measure of control to the existing approximately 3, inactive complaint cases.
We estimate that the Enforcement Unit would need an additional four planners and additional vehicles for at least a two-year period in order to achieve control of its existing workloads and new cases. The Enforcement Unit, with the assistance of the Zoning Administrator and the Planning Department"s Administrative Division, should develop processes designed to actively recover costs incurred, as provided in Section c 2 and Section of the Planning Code.
Moreover, the Planning Department should seek to expand the scope of Planning Code violations subject to the processes developed for general advertising signs in Section of the Planning Code. As new revenues are generated from these sources, they should be used to cover the costs of limited tenure staff to enforce the backlog cases.
The Enforcement Unit needs to ensure that it records each referred Notice of Violation that potentially includes a Planning Code violation. The Planning Department should perform a cost-benefit analysis of requiring Notices of Special Restrictions on building permit applications that have the potential for abuse, as was the practice in earlier years.
The costs of implementing the above recommendations would primarily be staff time. The cost of salaries, mandatory fringe benefits, and vehicles to provide the Enforcement Unit of the Planning Department.
Skip to main content. Mission and Organization The mission of Planning Code enforcement is to investigate and resolve complaints relating to violations of the Planning Code. Currently, neighborhood quadrant specific priorities 1 are as follows: o Northeast - Illegal Signs o Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, - Non-permitted commercial uses in residential areas. Archives Hearing agendas and minute archives dating back to What is a Variance? Apply for a Variance.
Apply for a Letter of Determination. Interpretations of the Planning Code Interpretations by the Zoning Administrator provide clarifications of the San Francisco Planning Code, which are issued for certain sections of the Planning Code and should be applied to specific factual situations.
View Interpretations. Apply for a Verification or Rebuild Letter. Zoning Administration Staff Corey Teague.