(a) Processing and determining completeness of project applications shall be in accordance with the Permit Streamlining Act, Section 65920 et seq, Chapter 4.5 of the State Planning and Zoning Laws of the California Government Code, and Chapters 1 and 2 of this Code. The Permit Streamlining Act applies to all discretionary development projects that are quasi-adjudicatory actions such as approvals of Use Permits, Tentative Subdivision Maps, and Variances. The Permit Streamlining Act does not apply to ministerial projects such as building permits, or to legislative or quasi-legislative projects such as rezoning requests, and General Plan Amendments (Government Code section 65928 and related court interpretations).
(b) After an application has been filed and appropriate fees have been paid, the application shall be examined by staff of the Planning Services Division and other appropriate County departments, to determine whether it contains all of the required information and is complete for the purposes of complying with Section 65943 of the Government Code. No later than 30 days following the submittal of the application, the applicant shall be notified in writing whether the application is deemed by staff to be complete or incomplete. If the application is determined to be incomplete, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the reasons therefor and informed of the information still needed to make the application complete.
(c) If the application together with the submitted materials are determined not to be complete, and the applicant disagrees, the applicant may appeal the staff decision to the Planning Commission in accordance with the appeal procedure specified in Section 8-2.225. A final written determination on the appeal shall be made not later than sixty (60) calendar days after receipt of the applicant’s written appeal. If the final written determination on the appeal is not made within the sixty (60) day period, the application with the submitted materials shall be deemed complete.
(d) Upon written notification to the applicant, processing of an incomplete application may be terminated if no reasonable effort has been made by the applicant to complete the application for a period of six (6) months from the date of notification of incompleteness. All unused fees shall be refunded to the applicant. The Planning Director on written request by the applicant showing good cause may grant an extension of this six (6) month period.
(e) In addition to the standards and findings set forth in this title, the Planning, Public Works and Environmental Services Department may prepare supplemental guidelines for the submission of applications and minimum standards, and criteria for approval of applications.
(f) All discretionary projects shall be reviewed for consistency with the Countywide General Plan text and Land Use maps. A project application not determined to be consistent with the General Plan shall be considered incomplete.
(g) The discretionary review of development proposals shall evaluate and address impacts on the rural landscapes and views. Any potential for land use incompatibilities shall require incorporation of design features to reduce potential impacts, to the greatest extent feasible.
(Ord. 1445, eff. August 14, 2014)