A. Informal Review. Prior to filing a formal application for site plan and design review, applicants are encouraged to submit drawings to the department of planning and community development for informal review and comments. Applicants with applications subject to planning commission site plan and design review are further encouraged to schedule, through the department of planning and community development, an informal review workshop with the planning commission prior to processing a final application for site plan and design review.
B. Prerequisites to Review. For properties with abandoned wells, prior to filing a formal application for site plan and design review, applicants must complete the prerequisite requirements pursuant to Section 16.24.020 and the Oil Services Coordinator shall submit a summary report pursuant to Section 16.24.060, including provision of an “at risk” letter if the intent is not to complete well abandonments prior to site plan and design review. The letter shall acknowledge that the success or failure to complete well abandonments in compliance with the city’s equivalency standard will determine whether wells may be built over or in close proximity to as indicated on the well access exhibit marked “no access”, pursuant to Section 16.24.050(B). Further, the letter shall state that it is understood that failure to abandon wells to the city’s equivalency standard will prohibit development over or in close proximity to the wells resulting in revisions to the site plan and potentially additional site plan and design review pursuant to Chapter 20.52.
C. Review by the Director. The site plan and design review applications set forth in this section shall be reviewed and approved, conditionally approved, or denied by the director of the department of planning and community development or the director’s designated representative, based on findings made pursuant to Section 20.52.050 and without prior notice to the applicant. However, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the director’s decision. If the director of the department of planning and community development approves a site plan or design review application under this section, the applicant shall be entitled to issuance of necessary permits upon compliance with all preconditions to such issuance after expiration of the appeal period as provided in subsection D of this section. The director of the department of planning and community development may refer any application made pursuant to this section to the planning commission for determination. All site plan and design review applications filed in conjunction with variance, conditional use permit, zoning ordinance amendment and tentative tract map requests will be reviewed by the planning commission. Those site plan and design review applications subject to the director’s approval are as follows:
1. Construction of new buildings, additions or extensions which are ten thousand square feet or less in gross floor area in any commercial or industrial zone;
2. Construction of first story additions or extensions of five hundred square feet or less (exclusive of garages, covered or uncovered patios, balconies, and walkways, eaves for other architectural projections, and uncovered tennis courts, pools, spas, and similar recreational facilities) to an existing dwelling unit;
3. All exterior structural and physical improvements relocations, and/or exterior alterations of or to existing buildings and structures, including physical site improvements. Physical site improvements shall include, but are not limited to, landscaping, parking and loading areas, driveways, walls, signs, fences and trash enclosures.
D. Review by the Planning Commission. The director of the department of planning and community development or the director’s designated representative shall review all applications and site plans submitted pursuant to Section 20.52.040 to determine if they are complete. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, the application and accompanying drawings, if deemed complete, shall be forwarded to the planning commission for review and determination at a regularly scheduled meeting in accordance with the submittal deadlines for such meetings as posted in the department of planning and community development. The applicant shall be notified within thirty calendar days on the completeness of the application. If the application is deemed complete, notification will include the tentatively scheduled date of the formal review. If the application is deemed incomplete, notification will include a list of items necessary to complete the application, and a date by which all of the information must be submitted in order to be scheduled for the next regular hearing date. Notice of the hearing on the application for site plan or design review shall be given as provided in subsection G of this section. The planning commission shall make findings as set forth in Section 20.52.050, and based on such finds shall either approve, conditionally approve, or deny any application for site plan or design review. The planning commission may, from time to time, continue its deliberations on any application to another meeting or meetings.
E. Appeals to Planning Commission. Except as otherwise provided in subsection B of this section, the applicant or any aggrieved party may appeal to the planning commission a decision of the director of the department of planning and community development to deny or conditionally approve any application for site plan and design review by filing an appeal in writing with the director of the department of planning and community development within ten calendar days following the date of written notification to the applicant of the director’s decision. If a timely appeal is not filed, the director’s decision shall be final. The planning commission shall hear the matter at their next regularly scheduled meeting at which the matter can be heard. Notice of the hearing on the application for site plan and design review shall be given as provided in subsection F of this section. The planning commission may sustain, modify, or overrule the decision of the director. In so doing, the planning commission shall make the findings and apply the standard of review contained in Section 20.52.050. The determination of the planning commission shall be final unless an appeal to the city council is timely filed.
F. Appeals to the City Council. The applicant or any aggrieved party may appeal to the city council any decision of the planning commission on an application for site plan and design review by filing an appeal in writing with the city clerk within ten calendar days of the planning commission meeting at which the matter can be heard. Notice of the hearing on the application for site plan and design review shall be given as provided in subsection G of this section. The city council may sustain, modify, or overrule any decision of the planning commission. In so doing, the city council shall make findings and apply the standard of review set forth in Section 20.52.050. The decision of the city council shall be final.
G. Notice of the Hearing. Whenever notice of a planning commission or city council hearing on a site plan or design review application is required by this section, such notice shall be sufficient if given in writing by first class mail, at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing, to the applicant and those property owners, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll, whose property is within a one-hundred-foot radius of the boundary of the subject property. The notice shall also be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least ten days prior to the hearing.
(Ord. 2015-05-1475 § 9 (part); Ord. 91-09-1112 (part): Ord. 90-05-1067 § 1 (part))