Irvine Municipal Code Ch. 2-5 Appeal and Call-Up Review Procedure

A. Any decision of the Director of Community Development or the Zoning Administrator may be appealed to the Planning Commission by the applicant or any person who owns property or resides within 500 feet of the property line of the proposed project. A recommendation of the Director of Community Development or the Zoning Administrator is not appealable. The 500-foot distance shall be measured from the property line of the project site. However, where a roadway is adjacent to a project site, the adjacent street and its right-of-way shall not be included in the 500-foot measurement. The Planning Commission may affirm, reverse, or modify the previous decision.

B. Any decision of the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council by the applicant or any person who owns property or resides within 500 feet of the property line of the proposed project, unless for project types subject to separate appeal requirements established in the Municipal Code. A recommendation of the Planning Commission is not appealable. The 500-foot distance shall be measured from the property line of the project site. However, where a roadway is adjacent to a project site, the adjacent street and its right-of-way shall not be included in the 500-foot measurement. The City Council may affirm, reverse, or modify the previous decision. A decision of the City Council on such appeal shall be final.

C. For coastal zone development see Chapter 2-7, or for a hazardous waste facility see Chapter 2-13, for special provisions regarding project appeals.

D. The action taken by the City Council on a concept plan proposal or waiver cannot be appealed. The Council's decision shall become final on the effective date of the ordinance approving, denying or approving in modified form the concept plan.

E. Any member of the Planning Commission or City Council may request that a decision of the Director of Community and Library Services (for decisions related to park planning), Director of Community Development, City Engineer, or the Zoning Administrator be called up for review by the Planning Commission. Any member of the City Council may request that a decision of the Planning Commission be called up for review by the City Council.

F. In addition to the rights to appeal set forth above, certain California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) decisions by the Planning Commission or any nonelected decision-making person or body of the City may be appealed to the City Council pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21151 and other applicable CEQA laws and regulations. Any person may appeal to the City Council the decision of either a non-elected decision-making body or a non-elected decision-maker approving or certifying ("approving" or "approval") of a CEQA document or determining that a project is not subject to CEQA ("determination"); provided, however, that the appellant or any other person must have objected to the approval or certification of the project's CEQA document, or the exemption determination orally or in writing prior to the close of the final public hearing on which the CEQA document was acted upon or the exemption determination was made by the non-elected decision-making body or individual. If no public hearing or other opportunity was provided to members of the public to raise objections, either orally or in writing, prior to the approval of the CEQA document, then the "objection" requirement of this subsection shall not apply. Any project applicant may appeal to the City Council the decision of a non-elected decision-making body or a non-elected decision-maker denying the approval or certification ("denying" or "denial") of a CEQA document for their project. The City Council may affirm, reverse, or modify the previous decision, or may remand the matter with directions for further environmental review.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.1; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94; Ord. No. 05-16, § 2, 7-12-05; Ord. No. 18-05, Exh. A, 4-24-18; Ord. No. 23-13, § 3(Exh. A), 7-11-23; Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25; Ord. No. 25-22, § 4, 9-9-25)

A. An appeal or a request for call-up review shall be filed, in accordance with this chapter as follows:

1. A Director-level decision pursuant to Division 2 shall be filed, in accordance with this chapter, within five business days of the date of the decision. The actual date of the decision shall not be counted in the five business days; rather, the business day following shall be counted as day number one. Any subsequent appeal to a higher authority shall comply with Paragrah 2-5-2.A.2.

2. All decisions other than those described in Paragraph 2-5-2.A.1. shall be filed, in accordance with this chapter, within 15 calendar days of the date of the decision. The actual date of the decision shall not be counted in the 15 calendar days; rather, the day following shall be counted as day number one. Any subsequent appeal or call-up review to a higher authority must also be made within 15 days of the decision.

B. All appeals shall be made in writing on the approved form, shall be filed during normal business hours at the designated location with both the City Clerk and the office or department of the decision-making person or body that made the decision subject to the appeal, and shall specify the decision appealed from, the specific action or relief sought by the appellant in the appeal, and reasons why the action taken by a City approval body should be modified or reversed.

C. A request for call-up review shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall only specify the decision for which call-up review is being requested.

D. All appeals shall be accompanied by a deposit or fee as required by City Council resolution or ordinance, with the exception of an appeal filed by a project applicant, which shall not be subject to payment of any separate deposit or fee. A request for call-up review by a member of the City Council or the Planning Commission shall not be subject to payment of a deposit or fee.

E. Where appropriate, the City Clerk or Director of Community Development, or their designees may request, and the appellant shall provide, additional information relevant to the appeal.

F. Additional documentation, evidence, and material relevant to the appeal that the appellant or applicant intends to present at the appeal proceeding must be submitted to the City Clerk no later than ten (10) days following the filing of the appeal. The written argument shall specify all grounds for appeal. The timeframe in this Paragraph shall not limit the right of appellants and applications to speak as interested parties or members of the public on the appeal. Late submissions will be provided to the appeal body in the same manner as public comment. Extensive appeal documentation submitted after the deadline provided herein may result in continuances or delays in the hearing on appeal.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.2; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94; Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25; Ord. No. 25-22, 9-9-25)

Timely filing of a written appeal or a request for call-up review shall automatically stay all actions, and put in abeyance all approvals or permits which may have been granted; and neither the applicant nor any enforcing agency may rely upon the decision, approval, or denial or other action that is the subject of the appeal or call-up review, until the appeal or call-up review process has terminated or been completed. No further approvals or permits related to the decision being appealed, nor work based thereon, may proceed until the appeal process has been completed or terminated.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.3; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94; Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25)

A. The Director of Community Development shall schedule a public hearing before the Planning Commission, to occur within 60 calendar days of receipt of an appeal or a request for call-up review to this body; or within 90 calendar days of receipt of an appeal or a request for call-up review to this body when the appeal or call-up review request is received between November 1 and February 1, unless specified otherwise in appeal procedures within the Municipal Code.

B. For any appeal or request for call-up review to the City Council, the City Clerk shall schedule a public hearing on the item before the City Council, to occur within 60 calendar days of receipt of the appeal or request for call-up review, unless specified otherwise in appeal procedures within the Municipal Code.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.4; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94; Ord. No. 09-02, § 3, 3-24-09; Ord. No. 23-13, § 3(Exh. A), 7-11-23)

Public notice of an appeal or call-up review hearing shall be given in accordance with the public hearing procedures set forth in Chapter 2-23, unless specified otherwise in appeal procedures within the Municipal Code. Appeals pursuant to Paragraph F of Section 2-5-1 shall be noticed in the manner required by Subdivision (e) of Section 15202 of the CEQA Guidelines, and mailed to the appellant, the recipient of any approval in connection with the challenged decision, if any, and any person or entity that has requested notice pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21092.2.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.5; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94; Ord. No. 23-13, § 3(Exh. A), 7-11-23; Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25)

An appealed action or an action for which a call-up review request has been made shall not be effective unless and until the date that action on the appeal or call-up review is taken by the Planning Commission or the City Council, as provided above.

(Code 1976, § V.E-202.6; Ord. No. 92-3, 4-14-92; Ord. No. 94-7, § 3, 6-14-94)

A. Appeals filed pursuant to Paragraph F of Section 2-5-1 shall be conducted de-novo and shall consider the whole of the administrative record. A decision on the appeal shall include findings based on substantial evidence, which may include adoption of the previous decision-making body's findings, and/or findings recommended by the Director of Community Development, the appellant, the applicant, or any other interested party. Where CEQA requires particular findings or actions to be made or taken in connection with a decision, the decision on appeal shall include such findings or actions.

B. For all other appeals, no matter shall be considered at an appeal hearing or call up review other than that which is specified in the notice of appeal filed pursuant to Section 2-5-2.B or C, as appropriate.

C. Where feasible, related appeals shall be combined and heard together. Where an appeal on a CEQA decision and on a non-CEQA decision on the same or substantially related project are combined, the appeal body shall first conclude the CEQA appeal before deciding on the non-CEQA appeal.

(Added during 1998 recodification; Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25)

An appealed decision may only be modified or reversed on a majority vote of the quorum at the appeal hearing. In the event a quorum is present and a majority vote in favor of modifying or reversing an appealed decision is not obtained, the decision shall be affirmed. The same voting requirements apply to a decision that is called up for review by a member of the Planning Commission or City Council.

(Added during 1998 recodification)

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law and pursuant to the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies, a final decision on appeal pursuant to this Chapter shall be required prior to bringing any proceeding in a court of law or other similar proceeding.

(Ord. No. 25-06, § 2(Exh. A), 4-8-25)