5.1. SR 12-10-2007Item # 5.1.
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MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council
FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager
DATE: December 10, 2007
SUBJECT: Propose Policy Extending Approved But Not Acted Upon
Preliminary Plats and Conditional Use Permits
This information is presented to open discussion.
Periodically over the last several months, the City has received a number of requests to
extend the approval of a conditional use permit, prelirrunary, or final plat. This is expected
to continue and with the downturn of the housing market, may increase in the coming
months, most notable for preliminary plats. Per City Ordinance, expiration dates of the
various applications:
^ CUP -expires if not acted upon in 2 years, with PC recommendation (30-656)
^ Variance - 2 years unless substantial action has been taken (30-635)
^ Prelim Plat - 1 year to submit a final plat*, three year maximum for phased plats
(30-374)
^ *Final Plat - no limit.
Typically, there is little cause for concern for extensions if good faith progress is being made
on an approved project. There is concern, though, when no action is being taken, often
because the applicant is "waiting out the market" ar is having trouble getting financing, etc.
Additionally, the longer the time between Council action and developer improvement, the
greater potential that an application may no longer meet the goals of the City, or that
ordinances or policies could change and these changes may not be implement-able to the
unbuilt applications, specifically preliminary plats.
A published policy guiding the Council in determining appropriate extensions would be
beneficial to both the Council and the applicants, making clear the Council desire for action
on these applications while at the same time preventing perceptions of unfair treatment
(approving one extension but not another). To safeguard against these concerns, the Council
could, by policy, respond to extension requests as follows.
S:~PLANNING~POLICY- Approval extension memo.doc
Application type Appropriate extension Reason
CUP* No extension (2 years is adequate fox most CUP's)
Variance No extension (2 years is adequate for most variances)
Preliminary Plat Two 1 year extensions (Gives three years to submit a final plat)
*A CUP tied to a Plat (e.g. a PUD zoning) would not expire unless the preliminary plat
expired.
The Council could also establish criteria for extending plats, including:
A. an explanation for why a final plat has not been applied for
(appropriate: circumstances beyond applicant's control)
(not appropriate: market, financial)
B. what, if any, good faith efforts have been made to complete the platting process
C. the anticipated completion date.
Staff will be available at the meeting to further discuss this item.
S:~PLANNING~POLICY- Approval extension memo.doc