Shasta County Municipal Code Ch. 1.18 Indemnification Requirements

The purpose of this chapter is to provide greater certainty to the county and to applicants for discretionary land use approvals concerning how legal challenges to such projects shall be addressed. As the parties primarily interested in and benefiting from development approvals sought from the county, and recognizing that legal challenges may result in significant potential public agency expenses even in the event of merit-less actions to attack or set aside such approvals, this chapter is intended to require the applicants for discretionary land use approvals to assume the primary responsibility for any such challenges.

(Ord. 97-2 § 1 (part), 1997)

A. At the time of submitting an application for a discretionary land use approval, and as a condition of approval, all applicants requesting such an approval shall agree, as a part of the required application, to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the county from any claim, action or proceeding brought to attack, set aside, void or annual any subsequent approval by the county which is brought within the applicable statute of limitations. The indemnification shall include damages awarded against the county, costs of suit, attorneys' fees and other costs and expenses incurred in connection with any such claim, action or proceeding.

B. In the event that a claim, action or proceeding referenced in subsection (A) of this section is brought, the county shall promptly notify the applicant thereof. Nothing set forth in this section shall prohibit the county from participating in the defence of any claim, action or proceeding if the county elects to bear its own attorneys's fees and costs and defends the action in good faith.

(Ord. 97-2 § 1 (part), 1997)

As used in this section the following words and phrases are used and defined as follows:

"County" means the Shasta County board of supervisors, the planning commission, the planning agency, the public works department, and all advisory agencies, appeals boards, officers, agents and employees of the county of Shasta.

"Discretionary land use approval" means any decision of the county approving a request of an applicant for a general plan amendment, rezoning, tentative map, vesting tentative map, parcel map, final map, final map modification or amendment, time extension, boundary line adjustment, certificate of compliance, conditional use permit, use permit modification, use permit extension, variance or variance modification, reclamation plan, administrative permit, or any other land use or public works entitlement requiring the county's exercise of judgment in the imposition of or a decision not to impose conditions of approval, and any accompanying California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) determination pertaining to any such approval.

(Ord. 97-2 § 1 (part), 1997)