La Habra Heights Municipal Code Ch. 8.4 Public Hearing and Notice Procedures

The purpose of this Chapter is to establish procedures for providing public notice of Public Hearings before the Community Development Director, Planning Commission or City Council. Public notice shall be as provided herein and in applicable provisions of state law.

A. Notice. The public shall be provided notice of hearings, land use and development applications to be decided administratively, decisions or other meetings concerning a permit or application that require notice in compliance with State law and as provided herein:

1. At least ten (10) calendar days before the public hearing, a notice shall be given of the
time, date and place of the hearing including a general explanation of the matter to be
considered and a general description of the area affected, and the street address, if
any, of the property involved. If a proposed Negative Declaration or Environmental
Impact Report has been prepared for the project, the hearing notice shall include a
statement whether the hearing body will be considering only the environmental
document or approval of the project as well.

2. Notice shall be posted at least ten (10) days prior to a public hearing in at least the
three (3) public places in the City identified by resolution of the council for posting
of notices.

3. In the event that the application is for a project or activity to take place on a particular
property, notice shall be given by mail or delivery to all persons, including businesses,
corporations or other public or private entities, shown on the last equalized
assessment roll as owning real property within five hundred (500) feet of the subject
of the proposed application.

4. In the event that the application is for a project or activity to take place on a particular
property and has been submitted by a person other than the property owner shown on
the last equalized assessment roll, the City shall also give mailed notice to the owner
of the property as shown on the last equalized assessment roll.

5. In addition, notice shall be given by first class mail to any person who has filed a
written request with the Secretary of the Planning Commission for notice. The request
may be submitted at any time during the calendar year and shall apply for the balance
of the calendar year. The City may impose a reasonable fee on persons requesting the
notice for the purpose of recovering the cost of the mailing.

6. Substantial compliance with these provisions for notice shall be sufficient and a
technical failure to comply shall not affect the validity of any action taken according
to the procedures in the article.

B. Additional Notice. Where the City determines that the notice required by Subsection A of
this section will not be sufficient, it may also require that notice of the hearing shall be
posted in a conspicuous place with a notice/sign of conspicuous size, at least ten days prior to the hearing. The City may also provide any additional notice that it determines is
necessary or desirable to inform interested persons of the application under consideration.

C. Responsibility for and Cost of Providing Notice. The property owner or applicant shall
bear the costs of providing notice and shall be responsible for ensuring that adequate notice
is provided.

D. Story Poles and On-Site Noticing. In order to provide a visual representation of a
proposed structure’s height, size, massing, scope, location, view impact, and privacy
impact, the following procedure shall be followed:

Required Posting and Time Period.

1. The notice of the pending application shall be erected at least twenty (20) calendar
days prior to the meeting date. If the project does not require a meeting date and is
processed administratively, no application shall be approved administratively until
the notice has been erected for twenty (20) calendar days. The notice of the pending
application shall be visible from each public or private right-of-way adjacent to the
property, which shall be supported by a four (4) foot by four (4) foot or longer sheet
of plywood. The notice shall contain the project file number, general description of
the project, application information, and city contact information and address.

2. Story poles shall be required for projects that involve new structures, additions greater
than fifty (50) percent of the original floor area, a second story addition, and any
addition which in the estimation of the Planning Department may cause concerns
about bulk and mass, view blockage, or privacy. A waiver or exemption may be
granted if the Community Development Director determines there is no possibility
that the proposed project will create or contribute to adverse impacts upon protected
view or privacy.

A five hundred ($500.00) dollar deposit for the removal of story poles shall be
submitted at the time of application filing. Upon timely removal of the story poles,
the deposit shall be returned to the applicant. The applicant’s failure to remove the
story poles shall result in the automatic forfeiture of the deposit and the City retains
the right to remove the poles from the site.

3. Story poles shall be erected at least twenty (20) calendar days prior to the meeting
date. If the project does not require a meeting date and is processed administratively,
no application shall be approved administratively until the poles have been erected
for twenty (20) calendar days.

4. The poles shall be removed within seven (7) calendar days after the City’s appeal
process has been exhausted (ten (10) business days following the date of the decision)
and a final decision has been rendered.

Posted Notice Certification.

5. The certification of notification sign posting shall be submitted to the Planning
Department within two (2) business days from the date that the sign was erected.

Story Pole Certification.

6. The certification of story poles shall be submitted to the Planning Department within two (2) business days from the date the poles were erected.

7. The certification of story poles shall be certified by either the project architect or
project engineer.

Story Pole Markings.

8. The top one (1) foot of the story poles shall be brightly painted with a visible color to
better identify the height of the proposed structure.

9. A similar mark shall be placed using a different but equally visible color on the poles
at the height of sixteen (16) feet measured from the finished grade.

10. Brightly colored material such as ribbon, twine, cable rope, attachment of flags, etc.,
shall be required to be strung between the poles to show the rooflines and an accurate
viewing of the outline of the proposed structure.

Story Pole Location.

11. Story poles shall be erected at the most distant corners of the proposed structure and
highest roof peak(s). A plan shall be submitted to the Planning Department within two
(2) business days from the date that the poles were erected showing the location of
the poles.

12. The primary purpose is to show the outline of the proposed structure, rooflines, and height elevation along with the top of the pole elevation, the finished grade elevation at the base of the pole, and the existing grade elevation at the base of the pole. Story Pole Materials. 13. Standard two (2) inch by four (4) inch lumber or other sturdy material such as heavy walled PVC shall be used for the story poles. The poles shall be supported laterally to reduce sway (guy wires). 14. The poles must be able to withstand all types of weather conditions. (Ord. 2015-05 § 1)