9.36.090 Structure of Merit designation procedure.


Structures of Merit shall be designated by the Landmarks Commission in accordance with the following procedure:
(a) Any person may request the designation of an improvement as a Structure of Merit by properly filing with the Director of Planning an application for such designation on a form furnished by the Planning Department. Additionally, the Commission may file an application for the designation of a Structure of Merit on its own motion. Within thirty days of filing a Structure of Merit designation application, the property owner and tenants of the subject property shall be notified of the application filing.
(b) Upon proper filing of an application for designation of an improvement as a structure of merit, removal or demolition, in whole or in part, of or to a proposed Structure of Merit is prohibited, and no permit issued by any City Department, Board or Commission including, but not limited to, a conditional use permit, a tentative tract map, or tentative parcel map permit, a development review permit, any Zoning Administrator permit, architectural review, rent control permit, or building permit, authorizing any such removal or demolition shall be granted while any action on the application is pending.
(c) The Director of Planning shall conduct an evaluation of the proposed designation and shall make a recommendation to the Commission as to whether the structure merits such designation. A public hearing to determine whether the structure merits such designation shall be scheduled before the Landmarks Commission within ninety days of filing of an application.
(d) Not more than twenty days and not less than ten days prior to the date scheduled for a public hearing, notice of the date, time, place, and purpose thereof shall be given by at least one publication in a daily newspaper of general circulation, and shall be mailed to the applicant, owner of the improvement, and to all owners and occupants of all real property within three hundred feet of the exterior boundaries of the lot or lots on which a proposed Structure of Merit is situated, using for this purpose the names and addresses of such owners as are shown on the records of the City Clerk. The failure to send notice by mail to any such real property owner where the address of such owner is not a matter of public record shall not invalidate any proceedings in connection with the proposed designation. The Commission may also give such other notice as it may deem desirable and practicable.
(e) No later than ninety days from the filing of an application, the Commission shall approve, in whole or in part, or disapprove the application for the designation of a Structure of Merit. If the Commission fails to take action on the application for the designation of a Structure of Merit at the conclusion of the public hearing, the application for such designation shall be deemed disapproved, and it shall be the duty of the Director of Planning to certify such disapproval.
(f) The decision of the Commission shall be in writing and shall state the findings of fact and reasons relied upon to reach the decision, and such decision shall be filed with the Director of Planning.
(g) Upon the rendering of a decision to designate a Structure of Merit, the owner of the designated Structure of Merit shall be given written notification of such designation by the Commission, using for this purpose the name and address of such owner as is shown in the records of the City Clerk.
(h) Subject to other provisions of this Section 9.36.090 and 9.36.180 of this Chapter, a decision of the Commission to designate a Structure of Merit shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of the rendering of such decision by the Commission.
(i) The Commission shall have the power, after a public hearing, to amend, modify, or rescind any decision to designate a Structure of Merit and to make any preliminary or supplemental designations, determinations or decisions, as additions thereto.
(j) The Commission shall determine the instances in which cases scheduled for public hearing may be continued or take under advisement. In such instances, no new notice need be given of the further hearing date, provided such date is announced at the scheduled public hearing.
(k) Whenever an application for the designation of a Structure of Merit has been disapproved or deemed disapproved by the Commission, no application which contains the same or substantially the same information as the one which has been disapproved shall be resubmitted to or reconsidered by the Commission or City Council within a period of five years from the effective date of the final action upon such prior application. However, if significant new information is available, the City Council, upon recommendation from the Landmarks Commission, may waive the time limit by resolution and permit a new application to be filed. In addition, an application by the owner of the improvement proposed for Structure of Merit designation may be resubmitted or reconsidered notwithstanding said five year time period. (Prior code § 9606.2; added by Ord. No. 1590CCS § 1, adopted 7/23/91)