Public Hearings are a forum for input on proposed projects. The hearing body or authority will evaluate the merits of a project based on the environmental documents, staff report and input from the community.
Hearing Bodies
Different bodies hear various types of entitlements and some projects will be heard by more than one.
Board of Supervisors (Board) - Hears amendments to the County General Plan, Zoning Code, Community Action Plan Amendments, rezones and some use permits. The action taken by the Board is final.
County Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals - Hear projects outside the County Planning Commission boundaries. Planning Commission final action can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors and their actions are final.
Subdivision Review Committee (SRC) - Takes final action on parcel maps (4 parcels or less) that do not require hearings at the Community Planning Commission or the County Planning Commission. Their actions can be appealed to the County Planning Commission.
Zoning Administrator (ZA) - Takes final action on minor use permits and variances for projects not located within Community Planning Council jurisdictions. Their actions can be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Design review is conducted by the Design Review Administrator and will also be referred to the Design Review Advisory Committee for comment and recommendations.
Community Outreach
- You are responsible for doing community outreach.
- Planning will prepare a early review letter.
- Project may undergo early review by Community Planning Commission/CPAC hearing.
- Your property will be posted with a sign to alert neighbors of your pending project.
Staff Reports
Planning evaluates projects for consistency with policies and regulations and prepares staff reports describing the impacts of the project. They consolidate all department requests and comments from the community and other agencies and prepare a recommendation about the project.
Staff reports are needed so that the community, other agencies, the applicant and the hearing authorities understand the project's impacts. The reports also contain a list of proposed findings and conditions that can be adopted by the hearing authorities.
Planning and Environmental Review and Assessment concurrently prepare staff reports and environmental documents.
Conditional Review - Project Review Committee
- Condition review makes sure conditions and mitigation measures are technically correct and consistent with other conditions and mitigation measures.
- We work with applicants on these conditions and identify technical issues before final reports are released for public review and hearings. Policy issues and community input are discussed at the public hearings. Conditions come from many different sources and must be met before or concurrently to the development of the project. On occasion, that are on-going with the life of the project.
- Mitigation measures identified in the environmental documents are included as conditions of the approval.
