Board holds hearing and continues appeal over condo‑conversion fee after department confusion over waivers and deferrals

The Board of Supervisors heard an appeal of the condominium‑conversion fee application for property at 273A/20 Ninth Street and continued the matter for one week to allow the city surveyor and Department of Public Works (DPW) to work with the applicant on options including fee deferral.

The appellant told the board she and co‑owners are low income and sought either a waiver, reduction or deferral of the city’s condo conversion fee. She said she had been told by outside real‑estate advisers that a waiver or reduction might be available for low‑income tenant owners but, after applying, DPW staff had referred her to the Board of Supervisors and were unclear about waiver versus deferral options. She also said she had paid the $16,000 fee under pressure from co‑owners and asked whether she could get the amount refunded and then be given a deferral.

Bruce Storrs, City and County Surveyor, told the board the DPW processes fee deferrals; a deferral allows applicants to obtain tentative map approval and delay payment until final map recordation, but the map will remain unrecorded until fees are paid. Storrs said the deferral period is inherently limited by when an applicant can finalize the required items for recording. Gigi Whitley of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development summarized the legal standard for a waiver or reduction: an appellant must present substantial evidence that there is no reasonable nexus between the impact of the conversion and the fee and that the ordinance provides no broad hardship exemption based solely on income.

Board members and staff agreed DPW should provide clearer guidance to applicants at the intake level about which relief options DPW can grant administratively (deferral for qualifying financial hardship) and which require a formal appeal to the board (reduction or waiver based on lack of nexus). Several supervisors said DPW had in some cases referred constituents to the Board of Supervisors without first exhausting administrative routes, causing delay and confusion. The board left the hearing open for one week, to Nov. 26, for DPW and the surveyor to work with the appellant and report whether a deferral or other administrative solution could resolve the matter; if not, the board will make a final decision at the continued hearing.

Ending

The appellant was advised to work directly with the City and County Surveyor and DPW staff on a possible deferral until map recordation. The Board will reconvene the appeal on Nov. 26; if the department and appellant reach a resolution, the applicant may withdraw the appeal in writing and the department will inform the clerk.