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(1) Definitions

(a) SIC Manual: Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987 edition. Published by Executive Office of the President - Office of Management and Budget.

(b) Establishment: An establishment is an economic unit, generally at a single physical location, where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.

(c) Auxiliary Establishment: An establishment which is primarily engaged in performing management or support services for other establishments of the same company. According to the SIC manual, it is to be treated as a separate establishment only if it is located at a separate site. Examples of activities that might be considered auxiliary are: management and other general administrative functions such as accounting, data processing, and legal services; research, development and testing; and warehousing

(2) Classifying. In assigning categories-of-use during the building permit process, the following principles shall be used as a guide:

(a) Classifications shall be made according to the 1987 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual as much as possible. Exceptions to this are outlined in the foregoing definitions. Other factors, such as zoning, may also affect the classification.

(b) Each building permit is to be classified according to the primary activity of the establishment that will, or does, occupy the building or site. (To determine the primary activity of an establishment selling both retail and wholesale goods, the relative number of sales to general public customers shall be used rather than the volume of sales dollars).

(c) Where distinct and separate economic activities are performed at a single physical location, or in a single building, each activity may be treated as a separate establishment and, therefore, may be classified separately.

(i) Split use within a building shall be determined on the basis of the nature of the business rather than any particular use of floor space within the building. For example--a manager’s office or bookkeeper’s office within a retail store shall not provide a basis for splitting the use of that building into "Retail" and "Professional Service". That office is an integral part of the business and the business is a retail business, not a professional office or service. The entire floor area shall be considered to be retail for purposes of calculating the Street SDC fees.

(ii) Another aspect to consider is whether different aspects of the same business which are housed within the same building could 'stand alone' as businesses of their own. For example, Les Schwab and other tire stores sell tires, batteries, etc.--retail items. And this is a major part of their business. But they also do a lot of service work--installation, flat repair, brake work, alignments, etc. This is also a large part of their business. Either one of these could 'stand alone', i.e., does not need the other aspect of the business to function. This should be a necessary test when determining whether to allow 'split use' for a particular business.

(iii) Buildings which house two or more separate businesses may be allowed to use different categories of use. A retail store and an insurance office in the same building would allow a 'split use' of "Retail" and "Professional Service" even though they are housed in the same building. The key difference between this situation and that in paragraph (i) above is that there are two distinct and separate businesses here. Again, the focus needs to be on the nature of the entire business and not incremental divisions of floor space within the building.

(d) Separate buildings of a single establishment (business) at a single physical location may be classified separately if they fall under the SIC Manual definition of "auxiliary establishment (see definition in Section 3.814(1)c--examples of auxiliary establishments are found on pages 14, 15 and 17 of the SIC Manual). An auxiliary establishment may occasionally be considered for separate classification even though it is physically connected to the primary operating establishment, but only if the employment is significant for both the auxiliary and the primary activity of the auxiliary serves other establishments of the same company.

(e) Building complexes, such as strip malls, etc., where more than 50,000 sq. ft. are contained under one roof and where the businesses are primarily retail, shall be considered to be all retail. No SDC fees will be charged when one space goes vacant and then fills again.

(3) Appeals -- Any person dissatisfied with the category-of-use assigned to his or her project may appeal such classification to the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal with the City Recorder any time after the person is informed of the classification, but not later than 10 days after payment of the SSDC. The decision of the City Council in these matters shall be based on the primary nature of the establishment and not by the amount of traffic generated by it. The primary nature of an establishment shall be determined by the Principles of Classification found in Section 3.814(1) and (2) of the Code and the definitions of the Categories-of-Use found in Section 3.816 of the Code. Decisions by the Council shall be used for the SSDC fee categories-of-use.

[Added Sec. 5, Ord. No. 7855, Apr. 6, 1995; Amd. Sec. 5, Ord. No. 2000-182, Sep. 7, 2000; Amd. Sec. 2, Ord. No. 2004-217, Nov. 4, 2004; Amd. Sec. 5, Ord. No. 2011-160, Aug. 18, 2011; Amd. Sec. 2, Ord. No. 2012-197, Dec. 20, 2012.]