SEC. 16.112. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION; PUBLIC NOTICES, HEARINGS AND ACCESS TO PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.
§ 16.112
San Francisco must publish public documents and give timely notice before public hearings for major city actions, including closing facilities, changing transit routes or schedules, adjusting fees, amending zoning or land use, selling city property, creating assessment districts, issuing large contracts ($50,000+), and holding elections.
The city must make public documents available to everyone (unless they're confidential by law). Before making important decisions, the city must announce them in advance and hold public hearings. These decisions include closing or reducing services at libraries and health facilities, changing bus or trolley routes and schedules, raising fees or fares, changing zoning or land use rules, selling or leasing city property, creating special assessment districts, issuing contracts for $50,000 or more, and setting up polling places for elections. The city must also announce the results after these decisions are made.
- Complex:The section combines multiple requirements (document access, notice timing, and eight distinct triggering events in two separate lists) with cross-references to confidentiality rules and the Board's discretionary authority to lower thresholds, making it difficult to parse all obligations at once.
- Controversial:Decisions about closing public facilities (libraries, health facilities) and changing transit routes are subjects of genuine public debate in San Francisco, and this section determines how much advance notice residents receive before such changes.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
The publication of and full public access to public documents, except for those subject to confidentiality, shall be as required by law.
Notice shall be published in a timely manner before any public hearing, and shall include a general description of said hearing.
Notice shall be given, and public hearings held before:
(a) Any facility used by the public, including but not limited to libraries and health facilities, shall be closed, eliminated, or its level of services reduced, or prior to the leasing, selling or transfer of management of said facility;
(b) Any significant change in the operating schedule or route of a street railway, bus line, trolley bus line or cable car line is adopted;
(c) Any fee, schedule of rates, charges or fares which affects the public is instituted or changed; should any such action be approved, the result shall also be noticed; or
(d) Any amendment to the general plan, change in zoning or change in land use is adopted.
In addition, notice shall be given for the following:
(e) Any sale, lease, rental, encumbrance or exchange of real property held by the City and County;
(f) Special assessment districts and protests of special assessment districts;
(g) Requests for bids or proposals for the purchase or lease of materials, supplies, equipment, services, construction, work or improvements involving expenditure of $50,000 or more; notice shall also be given after any such award is made; the Board may by ordinance reduce the dollar threshold for such notice; and
(h) Polling places and precinct officers for any election.