Part 1 — General Provisions

Applications for a discretionary permit or a zone change shall be made to the Planning Director on such forms and contain such information as is prescribed by City Resolution, and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee as determined by a resolution of the City Council. (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 191, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

Within 10 calendar days of the receipt of an application and accompanying information, the Planning Director shall determine if the application is complete and adequate information has been supplied to determine compliance with this Code. If the application is determined to be incomplete then the Planning Director shall notify the applicant in writing of all the additional items required to complete the application. If the Planning Director does not receive the additional items with 30 calendar days of the original receipt of the application, he/she may reject the application. Thereafter such application shall be null and void and the property shall have the same status as if no application had been filed.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 192, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

A property owner, or a person with written authorization to act on behalf of the property owner, shall be eligible to apply for a discretionary permit or zone change. The Planning Commission or City Council may, on its own motion, initiate an application for zone change.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 193, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

Notice of any public hearing pertinent to the granting, revocation, or modifying of a discretionary permit or zone change shall be given in the manner provided by California Government Code , Title 7, Division I "Planning and Zoning" and scheduled by the Planning Director, or by the Clerk of the City of Los Banos (in the case of an appeal), as follows:

• (a) Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, at least 10 days prior to the date of such hearing to the owners of property within a radius of three hundred (300′) feet of the exterior boundaries of the property for which the permit is sought or has been granted. The names and addresses used for such notice shall be those appearing on the last equalized County assessment roll.

• (b) At least 10 days prior to the date of such hearing, notices shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.

• (c) In addition to the notice provided for in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, if any person has filed a written request with the Planning Director to receive notice of a public hearing, then such notice shall be given first class mail.

• (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 194, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

A notice of hearing an application shall describe the location of the property under consideration, the nature of the application, the time and place at which the public hearing or hearing on the matter will be held, and the name, address, and telephone number of the Planning Director who may be contacted to request additional information or to whom comments may be submitted regarding the application, or as required by Title 7 of the Planning and Zoning Law, California Government Code. (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 194, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

With the concurrence of or at the written request of the applicant, any application for a discretionary permit or zone change may be withdrawn. When the application is withdrawn, such an action is effective immediately and is not subject to appeal. Thereafter, such application shall be null and void and the property shall have the same status as if no application had been filed.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 194, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

Notice of the decision on an application for a discretionary permit or zone change shall be filed in the office of the Planning Department and the applicant shall be supplied with a copy of the resolution or ordinance.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 195, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

Decisions of the Community and Economic Development Director or designee or the Planning Commission on an application for a discretionary permit shall become final and effective after an elapsed period of 10 days, from which the act, decision, or determination was made, unless an appeal of the decision is filed pursuant to the appeals procedure provided in Part 6 of Article 23 of this chapter. If such date falls on a weekend or city holiday, then the 10 days shall be extended until 5:00 p.m. on the next business day.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 196, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010, § 1, Ord. 1119, eff. July 18, 2014, and § 4, Ord. 1137, eff. October 2, 2015)

A discretionary permit may be granted, modified, or extended subject to the performance of such conditions, including, but not limited to, the provision of required improvements, and for such period of time as the granting authority shall deem to be reasonable and necessary or advisable under the circumstances so that the objectives of this Code shall be achieved. Such conditions shall be imposed and enforced as provided in the abatement section of the Municipal Code.

Whenever a discretionary permit is granted subject to a condition(s), use of the property without observance of any such condition shall constitute a violation of this Code. (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 196, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

Each discretionary permit granted pursuant to these provisions shall expire and become null and void at the expiration of one year after the purpose for which it was granted has been discontinued.

Each valid discretionary permit shall expire at the time specified in each permit, or if no time is specified, at the expiration of one year after granting except where construction and/or use of the property in reliance on such discretionary permit has commenced prior to its expiration. However, the period within which such construction and/or use must be commenced may be extended. (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 196, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

If prior to expiration of the discretionary permit the applicant files a written application for extension, the period within which construction or use of the property must be commenced, may be extended for a one-year period by the Community and Economic Development Director. If an additional extension is needed, the approval may be extended subject to conditions by order of the Planning Commission for a maximum period of two years after the date of expiration as originally established. An application for such an extension shall be made on the prescribed form, shall be accompanied by the fee fixed by the City Council, and shall be filed with the Community and Economic Development Director. Decisions of the Community and Economic Development Director or Planning Commission, as applicable, may be appealed as provided by the appeal procedure provided in Part 6 of Article 23 of this chapter.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 197, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010, and § 5, Ord. 1137, eff. October 2, 2015)

A discretionary permit may be revoked or modified for cause as provided by the provisions of this section. For purposes of this section, such modification may include the modification of the terms of the permit itself or the waiver, alteration, and imposition of new conditions.

• (a) Grounds for Revocation or Modification. Revocations or modifications may be made upon a finding of any one or more of the following grounds:

  • (1) That such permit was obtained or extended by fraud;

  • (2) That one or more of the conditions upon which such permit was granted have been violated, or the approved site plan is not followed;

  • (3) That the use for which the permit was granted is so conducted as to be a nuisance or detrimental to the public health, welfare, or safety of the City of Los Banos.

• (b) Initiation of Action. An action to revoke or modify may be initiated by order of the City Council or Planning Commission, on its own motion or on the request of any City Official.

• (c) Notice, Review, Hearing and Decision. An action to revoke or modify shall be noticed, reviewed, heard, and decided in the same manner and by the same authority as originally granted the discretionary permit.

• (d) An action to revoke or modify may be appealed as provided by the appeal procedure provided in Part 6 of Article 23 of this chapter.

• (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 198, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010, and § 6, Ord. 1137, eff. October 2, 2015)

No applications for variances, conditional use permit or zone changes pursuant to this Code shall be reconsidered within less than one year of their denial by action of the Planning Commission or City

Council, unless the surrounding area has been rezoned or a major change in the area has taken place.

(§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 198, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010)

• (a) The Planning Director shall be the decision-making authority for administrative permits.

• (b) The Planning Commission shall be the decision-making authority for site plan reviews, use permits, and variances.

• (c) The Planning Commission is the recommending body to the City Council for zone change, ordinance amendment, general plan amendment, specific plan adoption and amendment, and annexation applications and for use permit applications for alcohol sales. The City Council is the final decision-making authority for said applications.

• (§ 1, Ord. 933, eff. September 19, 1997, as amended by § 198, Ord. 1095, eff. November 20, 2010, and § 4, Ord. 1201, eff. December 2, 2022)