Chapter 18.92 — Planned Development Permit

Sections:

18.92.010 – Purpose and Intent 18.92.020 – Applicability 18.92.030 -- Modification of Development Standards 18.92.040 – Application Filing, Processing, and Review 18.92.050 – Review Authority 18.92.060 – Project Review, Notice, and Hearing 18.92.070 – Findings and Decision 18.92.080 – Planned Unit Development Permit Amendment 18.92.090 – Specific Development Standards 18.92.100 – Conditions of Approval 18.92.110 – Use of Property before Final Action 18.92.120 – Post Decision Procedures

The Planned Development Permit allows for review and approval of customized development standards for projects where flexibility in standards can produce unique living and business environments. in exchange for provision of one or more community benefits. The Planned Development Permit is intended to:

• A. Provide for Efficient Use of Land and Excellence of Design. Create a process that provides for flexibility in the application of Development Code standards to proposed development projects under limited and unique circumstances. The purpose is to: encourage the comprehensive master planning of land development in order to achieve an integrated and harmonious relationship between all elements of the project; allow consideration of innovative site planning and project design; facilitate more effective design responses to site features, uses on adjoining properties, and environmental impacts; produce a more efficient use of land and encourage the creation and preservation of open space as part of the development process; and achieve higher quality site planning and excellence of design and a more desirable living and working environment than may otherwise be possible through the strict application of the development standards.

• B. Provide for Enhanced Amenities and Innovation in Energy Efficiency. Require enhanced amenities and provide incentives for enhanced energy-efficiency and sustainable building approaches than generally required; and

• C. Meet City’s Expectations. Meet the City’s expectations that each Planned Development Permit project be of obvious and significantly higher quality than would be achieved through conventional design practices and standards.

• A. Allowed Development Projects. A Planned Development Permit may be requested for a residential, industrial, office, commercial retail, mixed-use, or business campus-type development project. The issuance of a Planned Development Permit is not a matter of right and may be denied or subject to conditions if the proposed modification of any zone standard will adversely

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affect existing or anticipated uses in the immediate neighborhood or will adversely affect surrounding properties or their occupants.

• B. Minimum Site Area. A Planned Development Permit may only be requested for a site with a minimum of five acres of land area.

• C. Planned Development Permit Precedes Building or Grading Permits. For projects proposing a Planned Development Permit, a building or grading permit shall not be issued until the Planned Development Permit has been approved and becomes effective.

• D. Land Uses Limited to those Allowed in the Underlying Zone. A Planned Development Permit may not authorize a land use activity not allowed in the underlying zone. A separate Administrative Use Permit or Conditional Use Permit may be processed concurrently. The Planned Development Permit shall not authorize any modification of the maximum density of development allowed for the entire site, unless it qualifies for a density bonus. If the density on one portion of the site is increased in order to achieve a lower density on another portion of the same site, the permit shall expressly prohibit any increase in density with respect to the lower density portion and the restriction shall be recorded in the Office of the County Recorder as a covenant running with the land.

• A. The Planned Development Permit may adjust or modify applicable development standards including: lot coverage, floor area ratio (FAR), distance between structures, height, setbacks, parking, open space and ground floor retail requirements. Where setbacks are reduced below the minimum required, the applicant must demonstrate that reductions will encourage better design of the overall project. Where a structure is allowed to have a height in excess of the maximum for the zone an increase in any or all of the setbacks for the structure may be required. No reduction in parcel size or setback shall result in a reduction in the minimum amount of open space required by the zone regulations to be established for the entire development.

• B. Residential development projects with density or intensity standards increased above the maximums allowed in the zone may only be approved in compliance with Government Code Section 65915 and Chapter 18.36.

• C . Any request to adjust or modify applicable development standards shall include clear, written justification for each adjustment or modification, and shall include proposals for enhanced on- and off-site amenities that contribute to the overall quality of the development project. In a residential subdivision, average parcel sizes may be used for the subdivision of land and individual parcels may be created having less than the minimum site area required by the zone regulations; provided, however, where any parcel is reduced in size below the minimum site area, an amount of usable land equal to 75 percent of the reduction shall be dedicated as permanent open space on one or more of the other parcels within the subdivision. The permanent open space shall be a dedicated lot for the benefit of the entire subdivision. For example, if the minimum lot size is 5,000 square feet and the applicant is requesting a reduction to 4,000 square feet at least 750 square feet shall be dedicated to useable open space within the subdivision.

• D . All Planned Developments must provide City Council approved community benefits.

An application for a Planned Development Permit shall be filed and processed in compliance with standard application processing procedures. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide evidence in support the required findings.

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All Planned Development Permits shall be reviewed by the Commission, which shall make a recommendation to the Council. The Council is the Review Authority for Planned Development Permits.

A. Application Review.

1. Each application for a Planned Development Permit application shall be analyzed by the Director to ensure the application is consistent with the purpose of this chapter.

2. The Director shall submit a staff report and recommendation to the Commission and Council for its consideration. The staff report shall describe the proposed project enhancements that justify deviation from the standard development requirements.

B. Notice and Hearings.

1. A public hearing shall be required for the Council action on a Planned Development Permit application.

2. The public hearing shall be scheduled once the Director has deemed the application complete.

3. Notice of the hearing shall be given and the hearing shall be conducted as set forth in the provisions related to public notices and hearings.

The Council may approve or conditionally approve a Planned Development Permit application by resolution only after first making all of the following findings:

1. The Planned Development Permit will:

   • a. Accommodate only uses allowed within the subject base zone;

   • b. Be consistent with the purpose, intent, goals, policies, actions, and land use designations of the General Plan and any applicable specific plan;

   • c. Be generally in compliance with all of the applicable provisions of the Development Code relating to both on- and off-site improvements necessary to accommodate flexibility in site planning and property development and to carry out the purpose, intent, and requirements of this chapter and the subject base zone(s), including prescribed development standards and applicable design guidelines, except for those provisions adjusted/modified in compliance with this chapter; and

   • d. Ensure compatibility of property uses in the surrounding neighborhood, consistent with the General Plan and any applicable Specific Plan.

2. The proposed project will produce a comprehensive development of superior quality and excellence of design than might otherwise occur from more typical development applications and a strict application of zone regulations;

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3. Appropriate standards and conditions have been imposed to ensure modification of standards will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare;

4. Appropriate on-site pedestrian and vehicular circulation and traffic control is designed into the development to ensure facilities equal to or better than what would normally be created by compliance with the minimum setback and parcel width standards;

5. The site is adequate in terms of size, shape, topography, and circumstances to accommodate the proposed development;

6. Adequate public services and facilities exist, or will be provided, in compliance with the conditions of approval, to serve the proposed development and the approval of the proposed development will not result in a reduction of public services to properties in the vicinity;

7. The proposed development, as conditioned, will not have a substantial adverse effect on surrounding property or their allowed uses;

8. If the development proposes to mix residential and commercial uses whether in a vertical or horizontal manner, the residential use is appropriately buffered from the commercial use and is provided sufficiently enhanced amenities to create a comfortable and healthy residential environment and to provide a positive quality of life for the residents; and

9. The design, location, operating characteristics, and size of the proposed development will be compatible with the existing and future land uses in the vicinity in terms of aesthetic values, character, and scale.

10. The project has provided direct and tangible community benefit(s), as approved by the Council.

• A. Requested Changes. Requested changes to an approved Planned Development Permit, other than those allowed by this section, shall be submitted to the Commission for review and recommendation. After review by the Commission, the Council shall determine whether or not to modify a Planned Development.

• B. Added Stipulations Deemed Reasonable and Necessary. The Council may, as a condition of approval, impose additional stipulations, changes, and/or conditions to the Planned Development Permit as it deems reasonable and necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this chapter.

• C. Minor Changes by Director. Minor changes in the Planned Development Permit may be approved by the Director . if required by engineering or other circumstances not foreseen at the time the permit was granted, and provided the change does not cause any of the following:

  1. A change in the use or character of the development;

  2. An increase in the overall density or intensity of development; and/or

  3. A reduction or change in the amount or character of required open space or landscaped areas.

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• A. Landscaping. Landscaping shall be provided in compliance with the provisions related to landscaping and trees, unless modified.

• B. Off-street parking. Off-street parking provisions shall be provided in compliance with the provisions related to off-street parking and loading), unless modified .

• C. Signs. Signs shall be provided in compliance with the provisions related to signs, unless modified.

In approving a Planned Development Permit, the Council may impose any conditions deemed reasonable and necessary to ensure approval will comply with the required findings required.

No permits or approvals shall be issued for any use or construction involved in an application for a Planned Development Permit until and unless the Planned Development Permit shall have become final.

The procedures and requirements related to permit implementation and to appeals and revocation apply following the decision on a Planned Development Permit application.

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