Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/11/2007

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Some municipalities wRere specific plans are authorized have regulations providing for the preparation and adoption of a specific plan for planned unit developments. Since the spe- cific plan is the equivalent of the development plan, the ordinance can provide that uses, site development requirements, and densities are governed by the specific plan. PROCEDURES FOR THE REViEW OF DEVELOPMENT ?LAN APPLlCA7l0NS Under some ordinances the legislative body adopts a rezoning for a planned unit develop- ment district and also approves the develop- ment plan, either at the time of rezoning or later. Alternatively, the decision whether to approve the development plan is usually given to the planning commission. This deci- The completeness determination. The ordinance should contain a requirement for a completeness determination so that the local government at some point must accept an application as complete, and so the applicant will be given direction on what is required if the application is rejected as incomplete. A completeness requirement is especially important for planned unit devel- opments, which may need to meet complex regulatory requirements. Notice and hearing. A decision on a planned unit development application is made following a record hearing held after published notice. There may be a statement in the notice that a record hearing will be held, for example. The hearing notice may also do the following: sion is made in a quasi-judicial process that requires a noticed public hearing, findings of fact, and a written decision. Because a review process of this type is .needed for all develop- ment applications, its inclusion elsewhere in the zoning ordinance is preferable, and the planned unit development ordinance can cross~reference to it. If the local government has a unified development code that includes a provision for planned unit developments, the review process..will be part of that code. Some planned unit development ordinances contain their own review procedures for development plan applications, and this sec. tion discusses the elements that should be part of those procedures. . List the land development regulations and goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan that apply to the application. . State that a failure to raise an issue at a record hearing-in person, or by letter-or the failure to provide statements or evi- dence sufficiellt to afford the local govern- ment an opportunity to respond to the issue precludes an appeal to the appeals board based on that issue, unless the issue could not have been reasonably known by any party to the record hearing at the time of the record hearing. . State that a copy of any staff reports on the application will be available for inspection at no cost at least [seven] days prior to the record hearing, and will be provided at actual cost. Findings and decision. Adequate find. ings are very important, especially for a devel- opment that can be as complex as a planned unit development, The planned unit development ordinance can also state what action an applicant must take if an application for a planned u,nit devel- opment permit is conditionally approved: If an application for the approval of a pre- liminary development plan is conditionally approved, the applicant shall have 90 days from the date of planning commission action granting conditional approval to sub- mit a revised application to the planning staff. If the planning staff determines that the revised application complies with the conditional approval, it shall forward it to the planning commission for a public hearing, TIme limits. A requirement for timely decisions as well as the requirementfor a completeness decision should minimize the delays that can occur in decision making and that can create difficulties in the approval process for planned unit developments. Anal development plan. Once the prelimi- nary development plan is approved, the appli- cant will submit a final development plan to the planning commission for approval. The purpose of reviewing the final plan is to ensure it includes all the approved elements of the pre- liminary development plan, and that no sub- stantial changes have been made. Approval can be by the planning commission unless there have been substantial changes, which the ordi- nance can spell out. A public hearing is required on the approval of the final plan, and is also required if a revised final development plan is submitted after disapproval. The jurisdiction can issue building per. mits and a certificate of occupancy once it approves the final development plan. Coordination with subdivision regula- tions. If a planned unit development requires the subdivision of land, which is likely.in many instances, it will also require review under the subdivision ordinance. Coordinating these reviews can be difficult. Coordination at the concept plan stage is not possible because the concept plan does not include enough detail to allow a review of compliance with the subdivision ordi- nance. Coordination is also difficult even at the preliminary development plan stage ZONING PRACTlCE 6.07 AMERICAN PL~NNING ASSOCIATION 1D21