Oceanside Zoning Code Art. 40 Environmental Review (City-wide)

The City of Oceanside is the Lead Agency, responsible for the administration of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for all applications determined to be projects, as defined by the CEQA Guidelines.

A project that is not ministerially or categorically exempt from CEQA and is the subject of an application for a discretionary approval, including but not limited to a General Plan Amendment, Zoning Map Amendment, Tentative Map, Development Plan, Use Permit, Variance, Master Plan, Specific Plan, PD Plan, HD Plan, MHP Plan, or NC Plan shall be subject to environmental review and shall be the subject of a Negative Declaration or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

• A. Lead Agency Responsibilities. The City Planner shall perform environmental review of an application in accordance with CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. Environmental review shall include:

  1. Determination that an application is a project as defined by CEQA;

  2. Review for exemption status;

  3. Preparation of an initial study for applications determined not to be exempt;

  4. Preparation of the appropriate CEQA document (Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report); and

  5. Processing of the CEQA document.

The City Planner shall determine the potential for significant environmental impacts associated with an application and require the preparation of a Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report. The City Planner’s decision may be appealed by the applicant or other interested party to the Planning Commission, Community Development Commission or Harbor Board of Directors, as the case may be. Final adoption of the CEQA document is the responsibility of the discretionary body having the final discretionary approval responsibility.

• B. Duties of Other Agencies. Agencies and bodies other than the lead agency shall have the powers and responsibilities assigned to responsible and trustee agencies by CEQA and CEQA guidelines.

40-1

CITY OF OCEANSIDE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE