Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/04/2004

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unsuccessful motion to approve was not the equivalent of a denial. This decision was overturned by the 2003 legislat~lre, which i~etd that a motion to approve which fails is the equivalent of a denial, so long as those voting against the motion state on the record, the reasons for denying the request. The courts have also required a formal motion to deny even when a city, has a moratorium in place that would otherwise prohibit the proposed application. Along with the denial motion, the law requires that the ciD' adopt written findings support, lng denial. The law states, ;;Ill the writ-ten statement is not adopted at the same time as the denial, it must be adopted at the next meeting following the denial of the request but before the expiration of the time allowed for making a decision under this section." The [aw also requires that the ;'written statement must be consistent with the reasons stated [n the record at the rime of the denial. The written statement must be provided to the applicant upon adoption." :As indicated, the law and court decisions interpreting it, mandate that the findings be adopted . within the 60-day period. To summarize: When a vote on a motion or resolution to approve fails for any reason, the failure constitutes a denial of the request provided that those voting against the.request state on the record their reason(s) for opposing the request. When a multimember governing body denies a request, it must state the reasons denial on the record and provide the applicant, in writing, with a statement of the reasons ~br denial. [£ the written statement of the reasons for denial is not adopted at the same time as the den/a[, [t must be adopted at the next meeting following the denial of the request but before the expiration of the 60-day period. The written statement of the reasons for denial must be consistent with reasons stated in the record at the time of denial. · 'The written statement of reasons must be provided to the applicant upon adoption. 7/hczt about an incomplete application ? If the ciD' receives an application that does not include all the city. required information, the clock does not begin to run, if within 15 days (increased from 10 to 15 days by the 2003 Legislature) of receipt of the application, the city informs the applicant in writing that the application is incomplete and what information is missing. An application is incomplete if it does not include the application fee. This would suggest that the city. give some tho[tght to being clear about exactly what imtbrmation it requires for various .types of land use applications. The city may want to consider developing a checklist and reviewing its zoning'ordinances to make explicit what items are required. This will not only help the applicant, bur will act as a sort of fhil safe mechanism tbr ci~ staffwho need to ~horoughly evaluate applications within the first 15 days. 66