The City Planning Official, or his or her designee, performs administrative staff reviews through the Type II procedure. Type II decisions are made by the City Planning Official with public notice and an opportunity for appeal to the Planning Commission. Alternatively, the City Planning Official may refer a Type II application to the Planning Commission for its review and decision in a public meeting.
(A) Application requirements.
(1) Application forms. Applications for projects requiring administrative review shall be made on forms provided by the City Planning Official.
(2) Submittal information. The City Planning Official shall advise the applicant on application submittal requirements. At a minimum, the application shall include all of the following information:
(a) The information requested on the application form;
(b) Plans and exhibits required for the specific approval(s) being sought (for example, requirements for property line adjustments are in §§ 153.245 through 153.254);
(c) A written statement or letter explaining how the application satisfies each and all of the relevant criteria and standards in sufficient detail;
(d) Information demonstrating compliance with prior decision(s) and conditions of approval for the subject site, as applicable; and
(e) The required fee.
(B) Procedure.
(1) The City Planning Official shall mail notice of a pending Type II decision to the following individuals and agencies not less than 14 days prior to making the Type II decision.
(2) The purpose of the administrative decision notice is to give nearby property owners and other interested people and agencies the opportunity to submit written comments on the application before the Planning Official issues the decision. The intent is to invite people to participate early in the decision-making process. Therefore, all of the following individuals and agencies shall be notified:
(a) All owners of record of real property within a minimum of 100 feet of the subject site;
(b) Any person who submits a written request to receive a notice; and
(c) Any governmental agency that is entitled to notice under an intergovernmental agreement entered into with the city and any other affected agencies. At a minimum, the City Planning Official shall notify the road authority if different than the city. The failure of another agency to respond with written comments on a pending application shall not invalidate an action or permit approval made by the city under this chapter.
(3) The notice of pending administrative decision, at a minimum, shall contain all of the following information:
(a) The deadline for submitting written comments, which must be at least 14 days prior to the scheduled decision date or, as applicable, the scheduled Planning Commission meeting date where an application is referred to the Commission for review;
(b) A summary of the proposal and the relevant approval criteria. The notice must have sufficient detail to help the public identify and locate applicable code requirements;
(c) The address and city contact person for submitting written comments; and the date, time and location the City Planning Official or Planning Commission, as applicable, is scheduled to make a decision on the application;
(d) The street address or other easily understandable reference to the location of the proposed use or development;
(e) A disclosure statement indicating that if any person fails to address the relevant approval criteria with enough detail, they may not be able to appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals or Circuit Court on that issue. Only comments on the relevant approval criteria are considered relevant evidence;
(f) A statement that all evidence relied upon by the City Planning Official or Planning Commission, as applicable, to make its decision is in the public record and is available for public review. Copies of this evidence can be obtained at a reasonable cost from the city; and
(g) A statement that after the comment period closes the city will issue its decision and the decision shall be mailed to the applicant and to anyone else who submitted written comments or who is otherwise legally entitled to notice.
(4) At the conclusion of the comment period, the City Planning Official shall review the comments received and prepare a decision notice approving, approving with conditions or denying the application based on the applicable code criteria. Alternatively, the City Planning Official may transmit all written comments received, if any, along with a copy of the application to the Planning Commission for review and decision at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
(5) Where the City Planning Official refers an application subject to administrative review to the Planning Commission, the Planning Commission shall approve, approve with conditions or deny the application through the Type II procedure based on the applicable code criteria. The Planning Commission may continue its review to the next meeting to allow the applicant time to respond to questions, provided the Commission must make a final decision within the 120-day period prescribed under state law (ORS 227.178) and as described in § 153.210. Alternatively, the applicant may voluntarily waive his or her right to a final decision within the 120-day time frame, and the Commission may decide to accept oral and written testimony in a public hearing review of the application, pursuant to § 153.208; in which case a new public notice must be mailed to those who received the original notice indicating the change to a quasi-judicial (public hearing) review procedure.
(6) Within seven days of a Type II (administrative) decision, the City Planning Official shall proceed to prepare a notice of decision and mail it to the applicant, property owner (if different), the State Building Official, those who provided written comments on the proposal and those who requested a copy of the decision. The City Planning Official shall cause an affidavit of mailing the notice to be prepared and made a part of the file. The affidavit shall show the date the notice was mailed and shall demonstrate that the notice was mailed to the parties above and was mailed within the time required by law.
(7) The administrative notice of decision shall contain all of the following information:
(a) A description of the applicant’s proposal and the city’s decision on the proposal. The notice may be a summary, provided it references the specifics of the proposal and conditions of approval in the public record;
(b) The address or other geographic description of the property proposed for development, including a map of the property in relation to the surrounding area (i.e., copy of assessor’s map may be used);
(c) A statement of where the city’s decision can be obtained;
(d) The date the decision shall become final unless appealed; and
(e) A statement that all persons entitled to notice may appeal the decision to City Council pursuant to division (D) below.
(C) Effective date of decision. Unless the conditions of approval specify otherwise, an administrative decision becomes effective ten days after the city mails the decision notice unless the decision is appealed pursuant to division (D) below.
(D) Appeal of Type II (administrative) decision. A Type II administrative decision made by the City Planning Official may be appealed to the City Planning Commission; and a Type II administrative decision made by the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council, as applicable, pursuant to the following.
(1) Who may appeal. The following people have legal standing to appeal a Type II administrative decision:
(a) The applicant or owner of the subject property;
(b) Any person who was entitled to written notice of the Type II decision; and
(c) Any other person who participated in the proceeding by submitting written comments on the application to the city by the specified deadline.
(2) Appeal filing procedure.
(a) Notice of appeal. Any person with standing to appeal, as provided in division (D)(1) above, may appeal a Type II administrative decision by filing a notice of appeal according to the following procedures.
(b) Time for filing. A notice of appeal shall be filed with the City Planning Official within the time frame specified on the notice of decision; typically, this will be within ten days of the date the notice of decision is mailed.
(c) Content of notice of appeal. The notice of appeal shall be accompanied by the required filing fee and shall contain:
1. An identification of the decision being appealed, including the date of the decision;
2. A statement demonstrating the person filing the notice of appeal has standing to appeal;
3. A statement explaining the specific issues being raised on appeal; and
4. If the appellant is not the applicant, a statement demonstrating that the appeal issues were raised during the comment period.
(3) Scope of appeal. The appeal of a Type II administrative decision shall be a hearing de novo either before the Planning Commission, where the contested decision was made by the City Planning Official, or before the City Council, where the Planning Commission made the contested decision. The appeal shall not be limited to the application materials, evidence and other documentation and specific issues raised in the review leading up to the administrative decision but may include other relevant evidence and arguments. The hearing appeal body may allow additional evidence, testimony or argument concerning any relevant standard, criterion, condition or issue.
(4) Appeal hearing procedure. Hearings on appeals of Type II decisions shall follow the same procedure used for public hearings on Type III reviews under § 153.208, which contains requirements for public hearing notices, conduct of hearings and decision-making procedures.
(Ord. 1267, passed 1-3-2012)