Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Commission recommends tougher per-unit penalties, higher caps for unpermitted demolition to Board of Supervisors

Building Inspection Commission · October 19, 2022
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Building Inspection Commission voted unanimously Oct. 19 to recommend Board of Supervisors file 220878, which would raise per‑day planning penalties from $250 to $1,000, count each unit as a separate violation and set civil‑penalty caps up to $250,000 for unpermitted demolition and $500,000 for historic structures. Deputy city attorneys said the caps apply to civil actions brought by the city attorney.

The San Francisco Building Inspection Commission on Oct. 19 recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt changes to the planning and building codes that would stiffen penalties for code violations and unpermitted demolition.

Santiago Lerma, a legislative aide to Supervisor Hillary Ronan, told commissioners the ordinance (Board file 220878) is “intended to hurt bad actors where it hurts in their finances,” describing three core changes: raising the daily maximum planning‑code penalty from $250 to $1,000; clarifying that each residential unit within a single address may be counted as a separate violation; and creating caps for civil penalties tied to demolition — up to $250,000 for unpermitted demolition and up to $500,000 for demolition of historic…

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to keep reading

Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.

  • Unlimited articles
  • AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
  • Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
  • Follow topics and more locations
  • 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
30-day money-back on paid plans