(A) Administrative permits. All permits issued by an administrative official or body, or legislative body acting in an administrative capacity, prior to the effective date of this chapter shall be valid until their expiration under the previously existing regulations. Applications for administrative permits submitted after the effective date of these regulations shall be reviewed and evaluated pursuant to the requirements of this chapter, except as further specified below.
(B) Completion of initiated projects. All non-conforming projects on which construction was lawfully commenced at least 30 days before the effective date of this chapter may be completed in accordance with the terms of their permits, so long as those permits were validly issued and remain unrevoked and unexpired, and a vested rights permit is obtained from the Director. If a development is designed to be completed in stages, this division (B) shall apply only to the particular phase under construction.
(C) Requirement to obtain vested right permit.
(1) Except as provided in divisions (A) and (B) above, all work on any non-conforming project shall cease on the effective date of this chapter, and all work on non-conforming projects may be continued only pursuant to a vested rights permit issued in accordance with this chapter by the City Council. The City Council shall approve a permit if it finds that the applicant has proven:
(a) It has in good faith made unrecoverable substantial expenditures or incurred substantial binding obligations;
(b) The applicant otherwise has changed position in some substantial way in reasonable reliance on the regulations as they existed before the effective date of this chapter and thereby would be unreasonably prejudiced if not allowed to complete the project as proposed; or
(c) Is otherwise entitled to a vested rights permit as a matter of law.
(2) To the extent that a non-conforming project can be made conforming and that expenditures made or obligations incurred can be effectively utilized in the completion of a conforming project, a person shall not be considered prejudiced by having made the expenditures.
(D) Completion of phases. When a project was intended to be or reasonably could be completed in phases, stages, segments or other discrete units, the person shall be allowed to complete only those phases or segments with respect to which the person can make the showing required under division (B) above.
(E) Limitation on vested right permit applications. The City Council shall not consider any application for a vested rights permit authorized by division (B) above that is submitted more than 60 days after the effective date of this chapter. The Commission may waive this requirement for good cause shown, but, in no case, may it extend the application deadline beyond one year from the effective date of this chapter.
(Ord. 3399, passed 12-5-2005)