Board upholds condo-conversion fee in appeal by disabled owner at 489 Sanchez Street

A majority of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 on Oct. 2013 to uphold the city's condominium-conversion impact fee for a three-unit building at 489 Sanchez Street, rejecting an appeal by one of the unit owners who asked the board to waive the $8,000-per-unit charge.

The appellant, Christina Carrasquillo, told the board she is quadriplegic, lives primarily on Social Security disability income and part-time work, and that she bought her unit after three years of searching because it was accessible on the sidewalk level. She said asking her to pay the fee would force her to give up a home she said she could not replace.

The board's vote followed legal briefing and testimony from city attorneys, the mayor's Office of Housing and the city surveyor. Deputy City Attorney John Givner and city staff described the narrow legal standard for this appeal: the board may reduce or waive the fee only if it finds there is no relationship, or nexus, between the impact of condominium conversions and the amount of the fee.

Why it matters: the city adopted an expedited condominium-conversion ordinance earlier this year that established a per-unit impact fee, based on a consultant's nexus study. The ordinance includes limited reductions tied to prior lottery…