§ 3.19A. ARTS COMMISSION CIVIC DESIGN REVIEW FEE.

Any entity, public or private, including any office, department or agency of the City and County of San Francisco requiring the Arts Commission’s civic design review and approval under Charter Section 5.103(1) (“Applicant”) shall pay a fee to the Arts Commission consistent with the provisions of this Section 3.19A. For purposes of this Section, the Arts Commission’s “Civic Design Review” includes approving the designs for all public structures, any private structure that extends over or upon any public property, and any yards, courts, set-backs, or usable open spaces that are an integral part of any such structures. Civic Design Review shall also include review of conceptual designs, site plans, design development and construction drawings for any project subject to the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review under Charter Section 5.103(1). The Arts Commission shall use any funds collected under this Section solely to defray the costs incurred by the Arts Commission in performing its Civic Design Review functions.

(a) Civic Design Review Base Fee. As of the effective date of the ordinance in Board of Supervisors File No. 180754, an Applicant shall submit a fee of $12,800 to the Arts Commission for each project requiring Civic Design Review under Charter Section 5.103(1).

(b) Annual Adjustment of Fee. Beginning with fiscal year 2019-2020, the fee set forth in subsection (a) may be adjusted each year by the Controller, without further action by the Board of Supervisors, as set forth in the following process.

(1) No later than April 1 of each year, the Director of Cultural Affairs shall report to the Controller:

(A) the revenues generated by the fee for the prior fiscal year;

(B) the costs incurred by the Arts Commission in performance of its Civic Design Review functions for the prior fiscal year; and

(C) any other information that the Controller or the Director of Cultural Affairs determines appropriate to the performance of the functions set forth in this Section 3.19A.

(2) No later than May 15 of each year, the Controller shall determine whether the current fee has produced or is projected to produce sufficient revenue to support the costs of providing the services for which the fee is assessed and that the fee does not or will not produce revenue that exceeds the costs of providing the services for which the fee is assessed.

(3) No later than May 15 of each year, the Controller shall, if necessary, adjust the fee upward or downward for the upcoming fiscal year as appropriate to ensure that the Arts Commission recovers the costs incurred in performing its Civic Design Review functions without producing revenue that exceeds such costs. The adjusted fee shall become operative on July 1 of that same year.

()1 Time for Payment..1 The fee shall be payable at the time of filing an application or request for Civic Design Review of a project. The balance must be paid in full 10 days in advance of the first scheduled public hearing before the Civic Design Review Committee to consider the project. The Arts Commission is not required to schedule review of any project for which an Applicant has failed to pay the Deposit required by this Section 3.19A .

(d) Project Review. Applications or requests for Civic Design Review for multiple structures situated together as part of a larger development plan (a “Campus”) will be considered distinct projects under this Section 3.19A . The Applicant shall pay the then current fee to the Arts Commission for each structure within a Campus requiring the Arts Commission’s civic design review and approval under Charter Section 5.103(1).

((e))1 Refunds. When an application is withdrawn by the Applicant prior to a public hearing, or deemed canceled by the Arts Commission due to inactivity on the part of the Applicant then the Applicant shall be entitled to a refund of the fee paid to the Arts Commission less the cost of time and materials incurred minus a $200 processing fee. Refund requests must be submitted within six months of the project closure date.

(f) Waiver. The Director of Cultural Affairs may waive or reduce the fees required under this Section 3.19A where the Applicant demonstrates in a written application that payment of such fees would present an undue financial hardship on the Applicant and would jeopardize the completion of the project. The Director of Cultural Affairs may also waive or reduce fees for projects of limited scope or Campus projects that include structures of identical form and character.

(Added by Ord. 173-04, File No. 040730, 7/22/2004; Ord. 187-06, File No. 060769, App. 7/21/2006; amended by Ord. , File No. 180754, App. 10/5/2018, Eff. 11/5/2018)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. .