A. The Planning Commission shall grant, conditionally grant or deny an application for an AUDP. Any conditions imposed upon the permit shall be in keeping with the objective site operational standards of this Chapter and the development standards as to height, bulk, open space, landscaping, signs and off-street parking of the underlying zone or specific plan in which the property is located.
B. 1. Not later than fifteen (15) calendar days after the City has received the application, the City Planner shall determine in writing whether the application is complete and shall immediately transmit the determination to the applicant. If the application is determined to be incomplete, the City Planner's determination shall specify those parts of the application which are incomplete and shall indicate the manner in which they can be made complete, including a list and thorough description of the specific information needed to complete the application. Upon receipt of any resubmittal of the application, a new fifteen (15) day period shall begin, during which the City Planner shall determine the completeness of the application. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an applicant and the City from mutually agreeing to an extension of any time limit provided by this section.
2. If the written determination is not made by the City Planner within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the application, or within fifteen (15) calendar days of resubmittal of any application initially determined to be incomplete, the application shall be deemed complete for purposes of this section.
C. The applicant may appeal a determination of incompleteness in writing to the Community Development Director, within ten (10) calendar days of the date of determination as indicated in the determination. The Community Development Director shall render a final written determination on the appeal not later than fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the applicant's written appeal. If the Community Development Director fails to render a final written determination within fifteen (15) calendar days, the application shall be deemed complete for purposes of this section.
D. Upon the filing of a completed application, Planning Division staff shall conduct an appropriate investigation, including a background check and consultation as necessary with the Building Division, Police and Fire Departments, and County Health Department and inspection of the premises as needed. Consultation is not grounds for the City to unilaterally delay in reviewing a completed application.
E. Concurrent with this investigation, the Planning Division shall notice and schedule a public hearing to be conducted by the Planning Commission, as prescribed in the Zoning Code, as set forth in Title 17 of this Code, on the application for the AUDP.
F. In reaching a decision, the Planning Commission shall not be bound by the formal rules of evidence in the California Evidence Code.
G. The Planning Commission shall render a written decision on the application for an AUDP within thirty (30) calendar days of determining an application is complete.
H. In the event that the project requires a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration or any type of environmental impact as defined in the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”, Cal. Pub. Res. Code §§ 21000 et seq.), the time frames set forth in CEQA and the companion Guidelines (17 California Code of Regulations, §§ 15000 et seq.) shall govern. The failure of the Planning Commission to render such a decision within this time frame shall be deemed to constitute a denial and shall be automatically appealed to the City Council.
I. The Planning Commission's decision shall be hand delivered or overnight mailed to the applicant within five (5) calendar days of its decision. If a permit is issued, the permit shall not be valid pending expiration of the ten (10) day appeal period set forth in § 11.13.215.
('65 Code, § 23-24.7) (Ord. No. 98-006, § 20 (part))