Board denies jurisdiction request in development‑fee dispute at 399 Fremont

The Board of Appeals on July 16 denied a jurisdiction request from 399 Fremont LLC to take up a dispute about indexed development‑impact fees for a proposed tower at 399 Fremont Street. Tom Tunney, counsel for the requester, argued the dispute arose only after the Fee Collection Unit denied reconsideration and that procedural confusion justified Board jurisdiction.

Scott Sanchez of the Planning Department described the city’s position that indexing of fees and the building‑code appeal timetable required the sponsor to have filed within 15 days of a site permit or the January 2014 fee report; he said the fee reports clearly disclosed indexing and that the sponsor did not follow the code’s procedural steps, noting the sponsor has also filed litigation in superior court.

Commissioners questioned when the dispute first arose and whether the notice and redacted documents shown to the Board demonstrated a timely appeal. After deliberation, a motion to deny jurisdiction carried 5–0; the Board found the jurisdictional standards were not met and directed that no appeal would be filed to the Board for that matter.