Supes' misguided decision gives tenants, owners equal clout - San Francisco Business Times:

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With un-Solomon-like wisdom, the Boared recently approved an ordinance makingall "conditional use" buildinh permits issued to commercial property owners subject to appeal before the Aside from undercutting the authority of the , whicjh usually maintains purview over such matters, the Boarf has decided that the appea process can be triggered by the signature of just five Supervisords acting at the behest of any residential or commercialo tenant in the city -- not those within the surrounding This fundamentally changes the ruleas by which city government invalidating guidelines that previously allowed only property owneras the right to appeal Planning Commissio decisions and granting equivalent rights to a groulp that has no legitimate basis for havinfg them: tenants.
Existing laws requir the city Planning Commission approve a conditionap use permit before any properthy owner structurally alters his orher property. In property owners who apply for such a permit must prominentlhy display their application in the area where the remodeling is plannedr and must notify all property ownersw within 300 feet of the projectby mail. Untikl the Board of Supervisors' recent interventionb in the regulatory process, if a nearby ownefr or tenant objected to construction plans intheie neighborhood, they could appear before the Planning Commission and statwe their case for not issuinvg a conditional use permit.
Once the Planning Commission had granterda permit, however, only nearby property owner s were permitted to protest the decision by petitioning the Boars of Permit Appeals (to revoke the permit). In most otherd cities across the country, this is calledd due process. Yet, to the Board of this course ofaction didn't extend far Regrettably, from a practical standpoint, their effortss will hurt the local