HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1997 0820 CC REG ITEM 09HAGENDA REPORT
CITY OF MOORPARK
TO: The Honorable City Council
FROM: Nelson Miller, Director of Community
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CITY OF MOORPAR& CALIFORNIA
City Council Mating
DATE: July 30, 1997 (For the City Council Meeting of August 20, 1997)
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SUBJECT: Consider Initiation of a Code Amendment Relating to Review of Decisions of the
Community Development Director and the Planning Commission by the City
Council and Requirements and Procedures for Code Amendments.
Appeals
It is suggested City Council may wish to direct initiation of a Code Amendment for a procedure that
would allow for any Council member to request review of a discretionary decision by the
Community Development Director or the Planning Commission, by filing of a written request (rather
than an appeal) with the City Clerk that the decision be reviewed by the City Council. The City
Zoning Code currently provides that an administrative decision of the Community Development
Director or decision of the Planning Commission is effective at the expiration of the appeal period,
unless an appeal is filed. Appeals may be filed by any aggrieved party. However, this creates a
situation where if the City Council desires to review a decision, an appeal would need to be filed by
an aggrieved party. The need for an alternative procedure has been previously discussed.
Requests for review would have to be filed within the appeal period provided by the Zoning Code,
which is currently sixteen days. This is longer than most jurisdictions, which provide an appeal
period of only ten days. The longer period was provided, in part, to allow certain applications, such
as Minor Modifications, to be presented to City Council for review and possible appeal. This appeal
period allowed for a regularly scheduled City Council meeting to occur within the appeal period of
a Planning Commission action. Establishing a process where any Council Member could request
a review by City Council, rather than automatically scheduling such applications for City Council
review, could allow the appeal period to be reduced to ten days. It could also reduce processing time
for certain applications, reduce the number of items for Council meetings, and reduce staff time for
preparation of agenda items.
Amendments
City Council may also wish to consider directing review and modification of the procedures
contained in Chapter 17.60 of the City Zoning Code, relating to amendments to the Zoning Code.
The City Zoning Code indicates that any changes to the Zoning Code shall be reviewed by the
Planning Commission with recommendations to be made to the City Council. Under State law, only
amendments which change any property from one zone to another, or changes the permitted uses or
development standards require Planning Commission review. Under State law, procedural
amendments may be adopted as other ordinances are adopted, without public notice or public
hearing. Furthermore, all amendments to the Zoning Code are required by the City Zoning Code
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Code Amendment Initiation
August 20, 1997
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to follow the same procedures for notice and public hearing as for development projects. This
imposes significantly greater notice requirements for Zoning Code Amendments than is required by
State law, since mailed notice is required for development projects, unless the number of property
owners to be notified exceeds one thousand, in which a case a one - eighth page display is required.
Under State law, mailed notice is not required for amendments to the Zoning Code.
Chapter 17.60 of the Zoning Code also requires the City Council to adopt a resolution of intention
in order to initiate Code amendments. This also imposes additional requirements not mandated by
State Law and can cause delays in initiating, processing, and adopting Code Amendments.
Revising the procedures to amend the Zoning Code to be consistent with State Law could reduce the
amount of time, the number of steps, and hearings necessary to amend the Zoning Code, especially
for procedural amendments, such as discussed in this report. It would also reduce the costs of
mailing, developing mailing lists for City initiated amendments, and the costs of advertising,
especially for display ads, which are currently required by the City Code for all Zoning Code
amendments. Reducing the processes and steps for Code Amendments would also result in a
reduction in staff time. Since many Code Amendments are initiated by the City, additional costs and
staff time spent for such amendments reduce the resources available for other City projects.
Items could still be referred to the Planning Commission for review, as Council directs, however,
it is not required by State Law for some types of amendments.
A draft resolution is attached for Council consideration if the Council desires to direct initiation of
a Code Amendment regarding these issues. Since the current Municipal Code requires Planning
Commission review of all Zoning Code amendments, this would be referred to Planning
Commission for review and recommendations.
It is recommended that City Council adopt the attached resolution directing initiation of a Code
Amendment pertaining to review, appeals, and Code Amendments.
Attachment: Draft Resolution
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