Imperial Beach City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 19
83 DESIGN REVIEW
§ 19.83.010 Intent and purpose.
A.
The City Council of the City of Imperial Beach does find and declare:
1.
That the appearance of open spaces, buildings and structures visible from public streets has a material and substantial relationship to property values and the taxable value of property;
2.
That many neighborhoods in other urban communities have deteriorated in the past by reason of poor planning, neglect of property design standards and the erection of buildings and structures unsuitable to and incompatible with the character of the neighborhood, resulting in poor design, possible reduction of property values and the impairment of the public health, safety and welfare therein;
That it is the policy of the City to avoid and prevent community deterioration by the various means provided for in this chapter; and
3.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the appropriate provisions of the planning and zoning laws of the State of California, Government Code Section 65000 et seq.
B.
It is therefore the declared intent of the City that this chapter shall serve the following purposes:
1.
To improve the general standards of orderly development in the City through design review of individual buildings, structures, signs and their environs;
2.
To improve and augment the controls now included in ordinances related to planning and building and to establish additional standards and policies that will promote and enhance good design, site relationships and other aesthetic considerations for all development under design review as described in this chapter.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.020 Jurisdiction and jurisdictional boundaries.
A.
Design review by the Design Review Board is required as follows:
2.
All commercial development within the City;
3.
All development requiring site plan review by the Planning Commission or a conditional use permit;
4.
All sign permits when deemed necessary by the Community Development Department;
5.
All City projects, except street repair, resurfacing, etc.
6.
Those projects referred by the Community Development Department for action.
B.
Design review by the Community Development Department is required as follows:
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.030 Waiver of design review.
The Community Development Department may waive the requirement of design review when it is determined the development will not have any significant impact.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.040 Application and approval for chapter requirements.
Prior to issuance of any permit for the erection, construction or exterior alteration of any building, structure or sign which falls under the jurisdiction of Section 19.83.020, an application must be submitted to the Community Development Department. All submitted applications subject to review by the Design Review Board shall be forwarded to the board by the Community Development Director for the earliest available board meeting.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.050 Design guidelines.
The Design Review Board in its project review, and the Community Development Department in its review of projects which do not appear before the Design Review Board, shall both use the "Design Manual and Design Review Guidelines" as adopted by the City Council on June 19, 1984, as a guide in reviewing projects throughout the community, with the exception of those areas for which specific unique design criteria have been established. In these cases the specific criteria will be used by the Design Review Board or the Community Development Department. Specific design criteria for the C/MU-1, C/MU-2, C/MU-3 Commercial/Mixed-Use Zones (Commercial/Mixed-Use Zones Design Guidelines) that are adopted by the City Council are to be used by the Design Review Board and the Community Development Department when reviewing commercial and mixed-use projects.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1; Ord. 2012-1130 § 1)
§ 19.83.060 Design Review Board project review.
The Design Review Board may approve the project, approve the project with conditions, or deny the project.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.070 Community Development Department project review.
The Community Development Department shall review projects not subject to the Design Review Board review. The Community Development Department may approve the project, approve the project with conditions, or deny the project.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.080 Appeals.
A.
Notice of Appeal—Ministerial Projects. Within ten days after a decision of the Community Development Department, any person may appeal to the Design Review Board the decision of the Community Development Department. The appellant shall file a notice of appeal with the City Clerk who shall immediately transmit a copy to the Community Development Department and the applicant (in the event the appellant is not the applicant). The notice of appeal shall specify the person making the appeal, the decision appealed from, and shall state in clear and concise language the reasons for the appeal. After the hearing on an appeal, the Design Review Board may refer the matter back to the community development director for further consideration, or may reverse, affirm, or modify the decision of the Community Development Department and may make such decision as the facts may warrant.
B.
The applicant or any interested person may appeal to the City Council the decision of the Design Review Board granting or denying any conditions or requirements as provided in this chapter. The appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed under the procedures provided in Chapter 19.82 for conditional use permits.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1; Ord. No. 2002-981 § 9)
§ 19.83.090 Termination of approval and extension.
In the absence of a stated termination date in the approval of any application, such approval shall terminate and become null and void one year after the effective date of such approval unless substantial construction or other action is diligently pursued to completion. If substantial construction and use of the property in reliance on a design review approval has not commenced within the one-year period, such period may be extended by the Community Development Department, Design Review Board or City Council as appropriate, for a period not exceeding six months for each application, up to a maximum of two years from the date of original approval.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)
§ 19.83.100 Extensions application-Filing.
An application for an extension shall be made no sooner than sixty days and no later than thirty days prior to the expiration date of original approval. If the Community Development Department, Design Review Board or City Council as appropriate has not acted on an extension application prior to the project expiration date, the applicant shall not be deemed to have an approved extension application, but the original project approval shall be deemed not to have expired until the time when the extension application has been acted upon. Application for an extension of a design review shall be in accordance with the requirements established by the Community Development Department.
(Ord. 97-917 § 1; Ord. No. 2002-981 § 10)
§ 19.83.110 Review and evaluation.
The Community Development Department shall review and evaluate the requested extension of design review. Within thirty days of receipt of the application, the application shall be scheduled for action by the Community Development Department or City Council depending on which body most recently acted upon the project being considered for extension.
A.
The Community Development Department, Design Review Board or City Council may approve, conditionally approve, or deny, the extension if all of the following are true:
1.
All applicable provisions of this title originally placed on the project as a condition of approval for development are still in force at the time of the requested extension, or that changes in or additions to the resolution of approval have enabled the previously approved project to be in conformance with the code;
2.
That no change in circumstances has occurred which would cause the originally approved design review to be in substantial conflict with the current development regulations; and
(Ord. 97-917 § 1)