Chapter 3
PROCEDURES
Sections:
13-3.02 Determination of complete application.
13-3.04 Public hearing notice.
13-3.05 Failure to receive notice.
13-3.06 Hearing continuations.
13-3.08 Where to file appeals.
13-3.09 Procedure for appeals.
13-3.10 Stays pending appeals.
13-3.11 When appeals are heard.
13-3.12 Notice of filing of an appeal.
13-3.13 Action of the Planning Commission or City Council.
13-3.14 Modification of subdivision requirements.
13-3.01 Application.
Applications shall be required on forms provided by the Community Development Department for all tentative maps, vesting tentative maps, tentative parcel maps, lot line adjustments, lot consolidations, certificates of compliance, and all other approvals authorized by this title.
Applications shall include all fees as established by City Council resolution and/or ordinance.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.02 Determination of complete application.
(a) Not later than thirty (30) calendar days after the City has received an application for an approval authorized by this title, the City shall determine in writing whether the application is complete and shall immediately transmit the determination to the applicant. If the written determination is not made within that thirty (30) days, the application together with the submitted materials shall be deemed complete for purposes of this chapter.
(b) If the application is determined not to be complete, the City’s determination shall specify those parts of the application which are incomplete and shall indicate the manner in which they can be made complete, including a list and thorough description of the specific information needed to complete the application. The applicant shall submit materials to the City in response to the list and description.
(c) Upon receipt of any resubmittal of the application, a new thirty (30) day period shall begin, during which the City shall determine the completeness of the application.
(d) An applicant and the City may mutually agree to an extension of any time limit provided by this section.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.03 Environmental review.
After an application made pursuant to this chapter has been determined to be complete:
(a) The Community Development Director shall determine whether the application is statutorily or categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or otherwise not subject to CEQA review. This determination shall be made prior to, or concurrently with, the issuance of any public notice required for the application.
(b) If the project is not exempt and is subject to CEQA, the Community Development Director shall complete an initial study and shall determine, based upon the information contained in the initial study, whether a negative declaration, a mitigated negative declaration, or an environmental impact report shall be prepared and may, at the Community Development Director’s discretion, select a private consultant to prepare the appropriate environmental document at the applicant’s expense.
(c) All CEQA review shall be completed prior to approval of any application made pursuant to this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.04 Public hearing notice.
(a) Upon receipt of a complete application, the Community Development Department’s report and recommendations, and the environmental review document, the secretary of the Minor Land Division Committee, for subdivisions of four (4) or fewer lots, or the secretary of the Planning Commission, for subdivisions of five (5) or more lots, shall set the matter for public hearing. The secretaries of the Minor Land Division Committee or the Planning Commission shall cause to be published notice of the public hearing at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City.
The contents of the notice shall be as follows:
(1) Time of the hearing;
(2) Address and place of the hearing;
(3) Identity of the hearing body;
(4) Name of the applicant;
(5) General explanation of the matter to be considered;
(6) General description of the property involved;
(7) Statement that any interested person is invited to appear and either endorse or object to the application in question;
(8) Statement as to whom an appeal may be taken and the time limit established for such appeal, if any; and
(9) Statement that anyone so requesting shall be notified of the action on the application in question.
(b) Additionally the Community Development Department shall give notice at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the hearing setting forth the information listed above by mail or delivery to the following:
(1) The applicant, the property owner, and the owner’s agent, if any;
(2) Any person who has filed a written request for such notice with the Community Development Director;
(3) Surrounding property owners, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll or on more recent records of the County Assessor, within a three hundred (300) foot radius drawn from the perimeter limits of the subject property;
(4) Each local agency expected to provide water, sewage, streets, roads, schools, or other essential facilities or services to the project; and
(5) Any owner of a mineral right on the property who has recorded a notice of intent to preserve the mineral right.
(c) Additionally the community development department shall post a notice on the subject property not less than ten (10) calendar days prior to such hearing setting forth the information listed above. The posted notice shall be no smaller than twenty-four inches by thirty-six inches (24" x 36") and shall include a Spanish summary translation of the information.
(d) In the case of a proposed conversion of residential real property to a condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project, notice shall additionally be given as required by the Subdivision Map Act.
The applicant is responsible for providing the required fee to pay for all forms of noticing as established by resolution of the City Council.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.05 Failure to receive notice.
Compliance with these provisions shall be deemed sufficient for the City to act regardless of actual receipt of notice. The failure of any person or entity to receive notice given pursuant to this division shall not constitute grounds for any court to invalidate the actions for which the notice was given. In accordance with Government Code Section 65010(b), no action, inaction, recommendation, or decision of the Community Development Director, the Planning Commission, the City Council, or any of its officials on any matter subject to this chapter shall be invalid or set aside by reason of any error, irregularity, informality, neglect, or omissions as to any notice or method of procedure pursuant to this chapter unless a finding is made based on substantial evidence in the record that the complaining party suffered substantial injury from that error, irregularity, neglect, or omission, and that a different result would have been probable if the error, irregularity, informality, neglect, or omission had not occurred.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.06 Hearing continuations.
Any public hearing conducted pursuant to this chapter may be continued from time to time and shall not require additional notification.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.07 Appeals to the City.
Any applicant or any other interested person, or any officer or official of any public or quasi-public body, who considers an action taken under the provisions of this title by the City Engineer, Community Development Director, Minor Land Division Committee, or the Planning Commission to have been erroneously taken may appeal such action and decision.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.08 Where to file appeals.
(a) Appeals from the decisions of the Community Development Director in taking any of the actions authorized by this title shall be made to the Planning Commission through its Secretary.
(b) Appeals from the decisions of the Minor Land Division Committee or the Planning Commission in taking any of the actions authorized by this title shall be made to the City Council through the City Clerk.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.09 Procedure for appeals.
(a) All appeals shall be made in writing and shall state the nature of the appeal and describe the specific grounds upon which the decision of the official or body is considered to be in error, and shall be accompanied by the filing fee as set by resolution of the Council.
(b) Such appeals, to be effective, shall be received by the Secretary to the Commission or by the City Clerk no later than ten (10) calendar days following the date of the action from which such appeal is being taken, unless another appeal period is specified in the Map Act or this title.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.10 Stays pending appeals.
The receipt of a written appeal shall stay all actions, or put in abeyance all approvals or permits which may have been granted, pending the decision of the Commission or Council on such appeal.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.11 When appeals are heard.
The City Clerk shall schedule appeals of actions taken by the Minor Land Division Committee or the Planning Commission for public hearing by the City Council within thirty (30) days of the filing of the appeal, consistent with the Council agenda preparation and meeting schedules. If there is no regular meeting of the City Council for which adequate notice can be given within the thirty (30) day period, the appeal may be heard at the next regular meeting for which notice can be given, or within sixty (60) days of the filing of the appeal, whichever is shorter. The Secretary of the Planning Commission shall schedule appeals of actions taken by the City Engineer or Community Development Director for public hearing by the Planning Commission at the next available regular meeting consistent with Commission agenda preparation and meeting schedules.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.12 Notice of filing of an appeal.
Whenever an appeal is filed, notice of the public hearing shall be given in the manner provided in Section 13-3.04, Public hearing notice.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.13 Action of the Planning Commission or City Council.
The Planning Commission, at the conclusion of the hearing, may sustain, modify, or overrule the action or continue the appeal of the decision of the Community Development Director to a future hearing date. The decision of the Planning Commission shall be final unless an appeal to the City Council is filed pursuant to this section. The hearing shall not be de novo but shall be limited to the issues identified in the notice of appeal.
The Council, within ten (10) days following the conclusion of the hearing, may sustain, modify or overrule the action of the Planning Commission or the Minor Land Division Committee. The hearing shall not be de novo but shall be limited to the issues identified in the notice of appeal and the issues considered at the hearing of the Minor Land Division Committee or the Planning Commission. The decision of the Council on any such appeal shall be final.
In order for an official action to be overturned by an appeal, the Planning Commission or the City Council as acting body must find that the action taken by the body being appealed from was taken erroneously and was inconsistent with the intent of the subdivision regulations that regulate the proposed action.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)
13-3.14 Modification of subdivision requirements.
Whenever the City Council finds that the land involved in any subdivision is of such size or shape, or subject to such title limitations of record, or is affected by such topographical locations or conditions, or is to be devoted to such use, that it is impossible or impractical in the particular case for the subdivider to conform fully to this title, the City Council may, upon a showing of good cause, approve such modifications or exceptions to this article or impose such conditions as, in its opinion, are reasonably necessary and in conformity with the Subdivision Map Act. In the case of subdivisions of four (4) or fewer parcels, such findings may be made by the Minor Land Division Committee. Whenever the Minor Land Division Committee or the City Council proposes to modify any requirement or make any exception to this title, the issue shall be heard before the public at the time of the public hearing for the subdivision application for which modifications to requirements are being proposed.
(§ 1, Ord. 1274-11 (CM), eff. February 24, 2011)