ARTICLE 12 PROCEDURES -------------------- (go to main index)

• (a) Purpose. Planning Commission Review is established to ensure compatibility, originality, variety, and innovation in the architecture, design, landscaping, and site planning of developments in the community. The provisions of this section will serve to protect property values, prevent the blight and deterioration of neighborhoods, promote sound land use, encourage design excellence, and protect the overall health, safety, and welfare of the City. The Planning Commission shall review:
• (1) New construction.
• a. Any new commercial, industrial, mixed use or public development of any size on a vacant site involving more than 10,000 square feet of land.
• b. Any new multi-family residential development.
• (2) Addition, non-residential. Any addition of gross floor area of 1,000 square feet or more, whether attached or detached, to an existing commercial, industrial, mixed use, or public development, on a site involving more than 10,000 square feet of land area.
• a. In the CC Coastal Commercial zones, additions which result in an increase in the gross floor area of more than five (5%) percent or 500 square feet, whichever is less, within any five (5) year period shall be subject to Harbor Commission Review.
• (3) Addition, multi-family residential. Any addition of gross floor area of 1,000 square feet or more, whether attached or detached, to a multifamily residential development.
• (4) Other. Other developments as referenced in Title 10, which due to their unique nature, require Planning Commission Review, or Harbor Commission Review as described in Section 10-2.2512.
• (b) Criteria. The following criteria shall be used in determining a project's consistency with the intent and purpose of this section:
• (1) User impact and needs. The design of the project shall consider the impact and the needs of the user in respect to circulation, parking, traffic, utilities, public services, noise and odor, privacy, private and common open spaces, trash collection, security and crime deterrence, energy consumption, physical barriers, and other design concerns.
• (2) Relationship to physical features. The location of buildings and structures shall respect the natural terrain of the site and shall be functionally integrated with any natural features of the landscape to include the preservation of existing trees, where feasible.
• (3) Consistency of architectural style. The building or structure shall be harmonious and consistent within the proposed architectural style regarding roofing, materials, windows, doors, openings, textures, colors, and exterior treatment.
• (4) Balance and integration with the neighborhood. The overall design shall be integrated and compatible with the neighborhood and shall strive to be in harmony with the scale and bulk of surrounding properties.
• (5) Building design. The design of buildings and structures shall strive to provide innovation, variety, and creativity in the proposed design solution. All architectural elevations shall be designed to eliminate the appearance of flat facades or boxlike construction:
• a. The front facade shall have vertical and horizontal offsets to add architectural interest to the exterior of the building and where possible, bay windows and similar architectural projections shall be used.
• b. The roof planes of the building, as well as the building shape, shall be varied where feasible, and a visible and significant roof line shall be used to soften the vertical mass.
• c. Harmonious variations in the treatment or use of wall materials shall be integrated into the architectural design.
• (6) Signs. Signs and sign programs shall meet the criteria established in Sign Regulation Criteria, Section 10-2.1802.
• (7) Conditions of approval. The conditions stated in the resolution or design considerations integrated into the project shall be deemed necessary to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Such conditions may include but shall not be limited to:
• a. Changes to the design of buildings and structures;
• b. Additional setbacks, open spaces, and buffers;
• c. Provision of fences and walls;
• d. Street dedications and improvements, including service roads and alleys;
• e. The control of vehicular ingress, egress, and circulation;
• f. Sign requirements or a sign program, consistent with the Sign Regulations Criteria in Section 10-2.1802.
• g. Provision of landscaping and the maintenance thereof;
• h. The regulation of noise, vibration, odor and the like;
• i. Requirements for off-street loading facilities;
• j. Removal of existing billboards on the site, subject to the findings required by Section 10-2.2006(b)(7).
• k. Such other conditions as will make possible the development of the City in an orderly and efficient manner and in conformity with the intent and purposes set forth in this chapter and the General Plan.
• (c) Application.
• (1) The applicant shall file with the Planning Division a completed application in a form provided by the Planning Division.
• (2) The owner of record of the lot or parcel of property which is to be affected by the application shall file an affidavit authorizing the application on a form provided by the Planning Division.
• (3) Upon the filing of an application, the applicant shall pay a fee, as set forth by resolution of the City Council.
• (d) Contents of application. In addition to the application and fee, a site plan, floor plan, and elevations of the project drawn to scale and dimensioned shall be submitted which include the following information as applicable:
• (1) Existing topography and proposed grading;
• (2) Existing trees with a trunk diameter of six (6) inches or greater;
• (3) All buildings and structures, and the uses within each room;
• (4) Improvements in the public right of way, including location of sidewalk, parkway, curb, gutter, street width to centerline, and dedications;
• (5) Exterior lighting;
• (6) Easements;
• (7) Off-street parking areas, including the stall striping, aisles, and driveways;
• (8) The lot dimensions;
• (9) Setbacks and spaces between buildings;
• (10) Walls, fences, and landscaping and their location, height, and materials;
• (11) Landscaping areas;
• (12) Trash and recycling facilities;
• (13) The architectural elevations of all sides of all structures depicting design, color, materials, textures, ornaments, or other architectural features;
• (14) The location, dimensions, and design of all signs;
• (15) A section of the building as it relates to the existing topography and proposed grading where the slope of the site is greater than four (4) feet;
• (16) Such other data as may be required to demonstrate that the project meets the criteria.
• (e) Setting hearings. All applications shall be set for at least one public hearing before the Planning Commission in a timely fashion.
• (f) Notice of public hearing before the Planning Commission. Notice of public hearing before the Planning Commission to consider an application for Planning Commission Review shall be given as follows:
• (1) By publication at least once in a weekly newspaper of general circulation in the City not less than ten (10) calendar days prior to the date of the public hearing; and
• (2) By mailing a written notice thereof, not less than ten (10) days prior to the date of such hearing to the applicant, to the owner of the subject property and to the owners of properties within 300 feet of the exterior boundary of the subject property or properties; such notices shall be sent by first-class mail, with postage prepaid, using the addresses from the last adopted tax roll, if available; and
• (3) By posting such notice in at least one prominent place on or about each parcel which is the subject of the proposed action, or upon utility poles or sticks along or about the street line of such parcel. In the event more than one parcel is the subject of such hearing, and such parcels comprise 200 or more feet of street frontage, at least one such notice shall be posted on or about the street line at intervals of not less than 200 feet, starting at either end of the subject properties where the property line intersects the street line.
• (g) Appeal of decision of the Planning Commission. Decisions by the Planning Commission for the approval or denial of an application for Planning Commission Review shall be final and conclusive unless, by 5:00 p.m. of the tenth (10th) day following such decision (or of the next working day if the tenth (10th) day falls on a weekend or holiday):
• (1) A written appeal on the form designated by the City is filed by any interested party with the City Clerk requesting a public hearing before the City Council stating the grounds for the appeal and all required fees for said appeal are paid in full; or
• (2) The Mayor or a member of the City Council requests a public hearing before the City Council stating the grounds for the appeal. Provided however that the City Council member or Mayor requesting the appeal shall disqualify him or herself from hearing the appeal unless he or she can certify in writing that the appeal is being requested as a result of public interest in the decision to be reviewed and he or she has no predisposition against or in favor of the project. The City Council as a whole shall be prohibited from voting to appeal any matter in which they will sit as the reviewing body.
• Such appeal, or City Council request for a public hearing, shall be set for a public hearing by the City Clerk in a timely fashion.
• (h) Notice of public hearing before the City Council. Notice of public hearing before the City Council to consider an appeal of the decision of the Planning Commission shall be given pursuant to subsection (f) of this section.
• (i) Decision of the City Council. The decision of the City Council on all applications shall be final and conclusive.
• (j) Expiration. An approval granted pursuant to Planning Commission Review shall become null and void unless vested within thirty-six (36) months after the date of the public hearing at which the vote was taken. Such time limits may be extended by the Planning Commission at a public hearing with notice given pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, upon the written request of the applicant and payment of a fee as set forth by resolution of the City Council. The request shall be filed with the Planning Division prior to the expiration of the approval and shall include presentation of proof of an unusual hardship not of the applicant's own making. If an established time limit for development expires, and no extension has been granted, the approval, and all rights and privileges established therein, shall be considered null and void.
• (k) Revocation. After notice to the applicant and public hearing, the Planning Commission, subject to appeal to the City Council, may revoke or modify any Planning Commission Review issued on one or more of the following grounds:
• (1) That the approval was obtained by fraud or misrepresentation;
• (2) That the use for which such approval was granted has ceased for a period of at least eighteen (18) consecutive calendar months;
• (3) That changed circumstances have rendered exercise of the approval as originally granted infeasible or inimical to the health, safety and welfare of the community;
• (4) That there has not been substantial compliance with the terms and conditions of the approval;
• (5) That exercise of the approval violates any State, Federal or local statute or regulation;
• (6) That exercise of the rights under the approval is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community;
• (7) That exercise of the rights under the approval constitutes a nuisance.
• At any hearing on revocation or modification the permittee and any other person whose property rights are affected by revocation, modification, or continuance of the exercise of rights under the approval, shall have the right to produce any arguments and introduce any evidence in support of their position.

(Ord. 2756 c.s., eff. January 18, 1996, as amended by Ord. 2812, eff. December 4, 1997)

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