Effective March 1, 2023: Members of boards, commissions, committees and any task force must attend meetings in-person. Members of the public may attend either in-person or virtually. See meeting agendas for details.   

Role & Duties

The Appeals Hearing Board hears code enforcement cases such as blighted conditions, illegal building activity, unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, abandoned, dismantled and inoperative vehicles on private property, neglected vacant houses, weed abatement liens, garbage liens and other matters. The Board also hears appeals of police permit denials or revocations, stop sign appeals, sign removal fees, utility billing and graffiti abatement fees.

The Appeals Hearing Board is quasi-judicial. The City's Administrative Remedies Ordinance provides an administrative code enforcement procedure which is used in lieu of criminal and civil judicial enforcement. If the Board determines there is a violation, it can impose an order requiring compliance, reimbursement of all City enforcement costs, and payment of civil penalties, including the imposition of penalties up to $2,500 a day per violation.

BOARD MemberS

There are seven members on the Appeals Hearing Board. Each member serves a term of four years.

Members of this board must be residents of San José and cannot be City employees. One member shall be an attorney-at-law licensed to practice in the State of California.

The board generally meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at 6:30 P.M. in the City Council chambers. See agenda information below.

On average, board members spend at least 15 hours per month preparing for and attending meetings. Each member of the board shall be paid the sum of $100 per meeting up to a maximum of $200 per month. The Conflicts of Interest Section of the Political Reform Act applies to Appeals Hearing Board members. They are required to file a Statement of Economic Interests, Form 700, to disclose investments, income including gifts and loans, real property interests and business positions.

Appointment Process. Following posting of a Notice of Vacancy, all applications received by the deadline will be submitted to the mayor and council members who, in turn, will notify the City Clerk as to whom they would like to interview. Applicants receiving four or more such indications of interest will be asked to appear during a regularly-scheduled council meeting and will be interviewed by the mayor and council. The mayor and council then cast written ballots which are read into the record by the City Clerk. Applicants receiving six or more votes, or the highest number of votes over six, will be appointed to serve on the board.

Attendance. Board members are expected to attend all board meetings. San José Municipal Code Section 2.08.060 specifies that a commissioner who has unexcused absences from any three consecutive regular meetings, or 20% of the meetings in a calendar year, is deemed to have resigned.

For further information about the board, please call the board secretary at 408-535-7915 or email AHBSecretary@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information

• Board Members and Vacancies
• Rules and Regulations
• Meeting Schedule
• Current Agendas

2026

Previous Meeting Information