All developments within Office Building Districts, including the Office Planned Unit Development District, shall comply with the provisions of this section, plus the provisions of Chapter 1134 (procedures for subdivision approval) if applicable.
(a) Preliminary Plan of Development. A developer, before applying for a building permit, shall submit to the City Planning Commission a preliminary plan for any land to be developed under the regulations of this section by filing seven copies thereof with the Secretary of the Planning Commission. The preliminary plan of the development shall indicate all uses proposed for the development and shall include:
(1) A plat and topographic map of the proposed development area at a scale of not less than fifty feet to the inch, including property lines, easements, street rights of way, topographic contours, existing structures and landscape features;
(2) Preliminary plans of the proposed development, drawn at a scale of not less than fifty feet to the inch and designed in accordance with the planning standards, regulations and criteria established herein and any applicable plans that may have been adopted by the City which apply to the subject site. The preliminary plan shall include, but not be limited to:
A. A site plan, showing the proposed location of all structures, identified by type, size, height and use, the assignment of all lands subdivided and the location of all structures within fifty feet on properties adjoining the proposed development;
B. A circulation plan, indicating the vehicular and pedestrian on-site circulation pattern, including the location and dimensions of proposed driveways, crosswalks and walkways and the location and arrangement of parking spaces and service facilities;
C. A landscape plan, indicating the landscape treatment, plazas and other landscape features;
D. The proposed method and standards for the construction and maintenance of utilities and paved areas;
E. Any proposed covenants running with the land, deed restrictions or easements proposed to be recorded and covenants proposed for maintenance;
F. Schematic floor plans and elevations, schematic plans and designs for all structures and such other information to explain their purposes, appearance, materials and type of construction; and
G. Such other reasonable information as the Commission may require.
(b) Referral for Review and Reports. Upon receipt of a preliminary plan of development, the Secretary of the Commission shall transmit, within three days, one copy each to the Mayor, the Clerk of Council and each member of the Planning Commission. He or she shall also submit for review and report a copy of the Preliminary Plan to the Building Commissioner and to any professional consultants retained by the City.
(c) Action by Planning Commission. Within seventy-five days after the reports on the preliminary plan have been filed with the Secretary, the Commission shall evaluate the plan and shall issue its decision with respect thereto. In reviewing the preliminary plan, the Commission shall determine either that the preliminary plan fulfills the requirements of the established regulations, standards and criteria which are applicable to the proposal and any improvement plans recommended or duly approved by the City, or that the plan does not fulfill all requirements, and thereafter it shall decide to either approve, disapprove or approve with modifications the proposed preliminary plan. In any such evaluation, the Commission may find that certain established regulations, standards or criteria of this Zoning Code are inappropriate or inapplicable because of unusual conditions of the development area and/or that they have been satisfactorily fulfilled because of the imaginative quality of the design or because of the relationship of the proposed development to the surrounding areas. A copy of the preliminary plan, together with copies of the decision of the Commission, shall be filed with the Clerk of Council.
(d) Authority to Proceed. Following the decision by the Planning Commission, the Secretary of the Commission shall notify the developer of such decision and authorize him or her to proceed with the preparation of final plans of the area of development in accordance with the procedures and criteria set forth in this Zoning Code and any special conditions under which this authorization to proceed was granted.
(e) Final Plan of Development. The developer of any parcel or parcels of land for which a preliminary plan has been approved by the Planning Commission shall prepare and submit a final plan of the proposed development, if such developer desires to proceed with the development. Any such plan shall be filed with the Building Commissioner and shall be submitted by him or her to the Commission. The final plan of the development shall be a detailed expansion of the preliminary plan heretofore approved by the Planning Commission, complying with all of the conditions which may have been imposed in the approval of such preliminary plan, and shall be in accordance with the design criteria and provisions of this Zoning Code which apply particularly to such plan of development, and contain or be accompanied by the plans, elevations, details and specifications for construction for the elements required for the preliminary plan as set forth in subsection (a) hereof. It shall also be accompanied by:
(1) The final form of any covenants running with the land, deed restrictions or easements to be recorded and covenants, if any, for maintenance;
(2) The estimated project cost for all public and private improvements and a construction schedule;
(3) Additional drawings to supplement the above, when required by the commission, where more information is needed or special conditions occur; and
(4) When the final plan of development provides for partial development of the total area for which a preliminary plan has been approved, a final plan of development of the remainder of the area, if required, to permit evaluation of the entire parcel before development in progressive stages may be approved.
(f) Conditions for Approval by Commission. If the Commission finds that a proposed final plan of development is in accordance with all the requirements and incorporates all the conditions of approval of the preliminary plan, the Commission shall approve such final plan of development and certify its approval to the Clerk of Council.
(g) Building Permits. If and when any proposed final plan of development has been approved, and building plans are approved by the Architectural Board of Review in accordance with Chapter 1327 of the Building and Housing Code, the Building Commissioner shall be so notified, and he or she shall then issue the necessary building and other permits, if such plans are found to comply with the Building and Housing Code and upon payment of the required fees.
(h) Lapse of Approval. In office Districts A and B, failure to begin the construction of all or a substantial portion of the improvement approved by the final site development plan within one year after such approval, shall render the approval void and of no effect, unless an extension of time is allowed by the Commission. In an Office Planned Unit Development District (Class C), failure to begin substantial construction within one year of receiving development plan approval shall render the approval void and of no effect, unless an extension of time is allowed by the Commission.
(Ord. 96-61. Passed 4-21-97.)