Lakewood City Zoning Code
PART 12
Procedure, Hearings, Notices and Fees
§ 9420 Commission Shall Prescribe Form of Application Blanks and Type of Required Information.
The Planning Commission shall prescribe the form in which applications are made for changes in zone boundaries or classifications, or for variances, or conditional use permits. It may prepare and provide blanks for such purpose and may prescribe the type of information to be provided in the application by the applicant. No application shall be accepted unless it complies with such requirements.
§ 9420.1 Acceptability of Signatures on Applications.
If signatures of persons other than the owners of the property making the application are required or offered in support of, or in opposition to, an application, they may be received as evidence of notice having been served upon them of the pending application, or as evidence of their opinion on the pending issue, but they shall in no case infringe upon the free exercise of the powers vested in the City of Lakewood as represented by the Planning Commission or City Council.
§ 9420.2 Applications a Part of Permanent Record.
Applications filed pursuant to this Chapter shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their filing, and shall become a part of the permanent official records of the Planning Commission, and there shall be attached thereto and permanently filed therewith copies of all notices and actions with certificates or affidavits of posting, mailing, or publications pertaining thereto.
§ 9420.3 Filing Fees.
Each applicant for a reclassification, amendment or zone change, variance, conditional use permit or for other relief provided for in this Chapter shall pay those fees as designated and established by resolution of the City Council of the City of Lakewood. The City Council of the City of Lakewood has heretofore by ordinance provided a fee schedule for some of the matters contained in this section, and until said resolution provided for in this section is so adopted said ordinance shall control to the exclusion of this resolution.
§ 9421 PEC Hearing Timelines.
[Amended by Ord. 92-2; Ord. 2023-6]
All proposals for amending zone boundaries or classifications of property uses within such zones as are defined by this Code, or proposals for the granting of conditional use permits or variances; or proposals for the revocation or modification of conditional use permits, variances, and/or nonconforming uses, as provided in this Code, shall be set by the secretary of the Planning and Environment Commission ("PEC") for public hearing when such hearing is to be held before the PEC, and by the Clerk of the City Council for any such hearing to be held before the City Council. The date of the hearing shall be set for not less than ten (10) calendar days and no more than one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from the time of filing of any such proposal, except:
A.
As otherwise set by an approved motion of the PEC or City Council or,
B.
In the instance of a hearing regarding the revocation or requiring the modification of a variance, conditional use permit or non-conforming use, the hearing shall beset no less than forty (40) calendar days, following notification of the intent to conduct such a hearing to either revoke or modify a previous approval.
Where an application is made for the granting of a conditional use permit or variance any required PEC hearing shall be concluded by its decision granting or denying the application within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from the date the application was deemed complete and accepted for processing unless the maximum processing time is waived upon a request by the applicant. |
Where by reason of a written appeal or otherwise by the terms and provisions of this Chapter a hearing is required before the City Council on an application pertaining to a conditional use permit or a variance, such hearing shall be concluded by the granting or denial by the City Council of the application or the appeal within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from the time of the filing with the City Clerk of the written appeal or application for relief by the City Council, unless the time limit is waived by the applicant. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in any case where an environmental analysis or study is required under the terms and provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the aforementioned time limit for concluding any such proceeding shall be extended by the time necessary to determine whether the project is to be: 1) Exempt from CEQA review, by a time not exceeding thirty (30) days, or 2) Prepare/process a Negative Declaration by a time not exceeding one hundred (100) days, or 3) Prepare/process an Environmental Impact Report by a time not exceeding eleven (11) months, unless the time limit extension is waived by the applicant. |
§ 9422 Notices.
Notices of times and places of public hearings where not contrary to the provisions of Chapters 3 and 4, Title 7 of the Government Code of the State of California, and where no other provision is made in this Chapter for the same, shall be as follows:
A.
As to any actions to be taken pursuant to this Chapter for which a public hearing is required pursuant to State Law or this Code, notice shall be given in the manner required by the applicable provisions of the California Planning Law, including but not necessarily limited to California Government Code Section 65090, et seq.
[Amended by Ord. 2008-8]
B.
Notice of public hearings to consider the revocation of a variance or a nonconforming use shall be given by mailing a written notice thereof setting forth the grounds of said proposed revocation to the owner or owners of the property involved and to the occupant or occupants of the property involved not less than forty (40) calendar days prior to the date of such hearing. In addition, the Planning Commission may order notice of such hearing to be given to such other interested persons as the City Planning Commission deems necessary and proper in its discretion.
§ 9422.1 Required Wording of Notices.
Such public notice of hearings on zone reclassification, amendment, variance, conditional use permit, or revocation, shall consist of the words "Notice of Proposed Change of Zone Boundaries or Classification" or "Notice of Proposed Variance" or "Notice of Proposed Conditional Use Permit" as the case may be, setting forth the description of the property under consideration, the nature of the proposed change of use and the time and place at which the public hearing or hearings on the matter will be held.
§ 9423 Investigation.
The Planning Commission shall cause to be made such investigation of facts bearing upon an application set for hearing, including an analysis of precedent cases as will serve to provide all necessary information to assure action on each case consistent with the purpose of this ordinance and with previous amendments or variances.
§ 9424 Establishment of Rules for Conduct of Hearings.
The Planning Commission may establish rules governing the conduct of public hearings conducted by it.
§ 9425 Number of Hearings Required.
A.
Amendments and zone boundary changes require at least one (1) hearing by the Planning Commission and one (1) hearing before the City Council.
B.
Variances and conditional use permits shall require a minimum of one (1) hearing before the Planning Commission.
C.
Revocations shall require a minimum of one (1) hearing before the Planning Commission.
§ 9425.1 Hearings May Be Continued Without Recourse to Public Notice.
If, for any reason, testimony on any case set for public hearing cannot be completed on the day set for such hearing, the person presiding at such public hearing may, before adjournment or recess thereof, publicly announce the time and place to, and at which, said hearing will be continued and no further notice is required.
§ 9425.2 Permanent Files Shall Include Summary of Testimony.
A Summary of all pertinent testimony offered at public hearings held in connection with an application filed pursuant to this ordinance, and the names of persons testifying shall be recorded and made a part of the permanent files of the case.