Lancaster Municipal Code Art. VI Director's Review

Director's review is established to facilitate substantiation and corroboration of facts and testimony vital to the administration of this title and is required or may be used for:

A. Determination of whether or not a proposed development will properly comply with the provisions and development standards prescribed in this title or as prescribed by the commission or director;

B. Indication of compliance, or plans and intentions to comply with the regulations and standards prescribed in this title.

Where a site plan is required in an application for a permit, variance, nonconforming use or structure review, said site plan shall be considered a part of said application and shall not require separate approval under the provisions of this article.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.1)

The director may:

A. Require a site plan review for any use, development of land, structure, building or modification of standards that involves the approval of the director;

B. Require such other forms and documents as are necessary to determine compliance with the provisions of this title or any conditions that may be specified in granting an approval of the requested use, development or modification;

C. Require such supplemental information or material as may be necessary, including revised or corrected copies of any site plan or other document previously presented.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.2)

Any application for director's review shall contain the following information and documents as are required by the director and be accompanied by the filing fee required by resolution of the city council:

A. Name and address of the applicant and of all persons owning any or all of the property proposed to be used;

B. Evidence that the applicant:

1. Is the owner of the premises involved, or

2. Has written permission of the owner or owners to make such application, or

3. Is or will be the plaintiff in an action in eminent domain to acquire the premises involved, or any portion thereof, or

4. In the case of a public agency, is negotiating to acquire a portion of the premises involved;

C. Location of subject property (address or vicinity);

D. Legal description of property;

E. Proposed facility or use;

F. The use, location and size of all buildings and structures, yards, driveways, access and parking areas, landscaping, walls or fences, and other similar features;

G. Such other data including plans, drawings, diagrams or pictures as may be required to determine compliance with the provisions of this title.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.3)

The director in acting upon any site plan offered for review as provided in this title shall either approve, approve with conditions, or deny the proposed use, development or modification as requested in the application and as indicated in the required site plan based on the following principles and standards:

A. That the use, development of land and/or application of development standards is in compliance with all applicable provisions of this title;

B. That the use, development of land and/or application of development standards, when considered on the basis of the suitability of the site for the particular use or development intended, is so arranged as to avoid traffic congestion, insure the protection of public health, safety and general welfare, prevent adverse effects on neighboring property and is in conformity with good zoning practice;

C. That the use, development of land and/or application of development standards is suitable from the standpoint of functional developmental design.

D. Those development proposals, which pursuant to state law can only be subject to objective standards, shall not be subject to subsections B and C, above, but shall be subject to the following standards:

1. Public facilities and utilities are available to serve the proposed development in accordance with adopted city standards or will be made available at the time of development.

2. Proposed plans for vehicle circulation and access have been approved by the city engineer and impacts to the city's transportation network have been mitigated to the extent necessary to maintain the city's adopted transportation level of service.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.4)

(Ord. No. 1106, § 4(Exh. A), 10-10-2023)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1130, § 4(Exh. A), adopted May 27, 2025, repealed § 17.32.800, which pertained to period of decision and derived from Prior zoning ord. § 508.6.

The director shall notify the applicant of a request for a site plan approval of the action taken on the application, by first class mail, postage prepaid, or other means deemed appropriate by the commission. Such notification may also be hand delivered to the applicant when appropriate.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.7)

An appeal may be made by the applicant or an interested citizen in the event that he is dissatisfied with the action taken by the director on a site plan. Such appeal shall be filed with the city clerk in accordance with Section 17.36.030.

(Prior zoning ord. § 508.8)