It is the purpose of this Part to promote the orderly and economic development of the City in accordance with the mandates of Federal laws, State laws, including Senate Bill 9 of 2021 (SB 9), the Lakewood General Plan, the Lakewood Municipal Code, including zoning and building regulations and other applicable City regulations and any Lakewood adopted Precise or Specific Plans and any amendments thereof. Except as modified herein where allowed by the provisions of SB 9, all such provisions, as they may be amended from time to time, are hereby incorporated by reference herein, and shall supersede any conflicting provisions contained elsewhere in this Code.

The City Council finds that the provision of architectural, landscaping and planning advice and the creation of objective design standards for state-mandated ministerial reviews will assist property owners and tenants in the alteration and remodeling of their structures, with modernization, accessibility and beautification of their homes, businesses, additional dwelling units and other structures in the city, including residential, multiple-family, commercial, institutional, and industrial uses. This service will help create a better sense of community identity, encourage pride in beautifying Lakewood and assist in creating a better more harmonious and accessible place in which to live. Further, the City Council finds that the erection, construction, alteration, expansion, or relocation of buildings, structures, and appurtenances without the benefit of development review through the Development Review Board or through a Ministerial Staff Review implementing objective design standards can adversely affect the development, use, occupancy, health, safety, and welfare of surrounding areas for residential, commercial, institutional or industrial uses or purposes and affect the health, safety, comfort, and general welfare of the inhabitants of Lakewood.

It is the purpose of this Part to maintain and enhance a pleasing urban environment with residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial properties; promote public convenience and prosperity; conserve the value of land and buildings, maintain enhance the commercial tax base of the City and encourage the most appropriate use of land within the City. The Development Review Board ("Board") shall review proposed developments other than single-family residential projects to assure compliance with the General Plan, the zoning code, the building codes, and other applicable regulations of the City and State. The ministerial staff review shall review projects on single-family residential lots and other projects as determined by the Community Development Director.

Both these reviews shall include applicable consideration of those regulations pertaining to location, building setback lines, lot coverage, maximum height, bulk, number of stories, size and use of lots, yards, courts, open space, storm water storage, intensity and density of land uses, signs, billboards, illumination, overall site and building accessibility (including first floor residential bathrooms and bedrooms) and off-street parking. This includes regulations pertaining to the use and operation of uses within such buildings and structures and the external impacts of those uses.

The Development Review Board action on projects requiring a discretionary decision by either the Lakewood City Council or the Lakewood Planning and Environment Commission shall be advisory only and not be subject to appeal.

There is hereby created a Development Review Board ("Board") which shall consist of the Director of Community Development or her/his designee, a licensed architect or equivalent, and a qualified landscape architect or equivalent. The Board members shall serve at the will of the City Council. The Board shall have the power to adopt its own rules of procedure, with the following limitations:

No person shall construct any dwelling unit, building or structure, nor shall any permit be issued for any dwelling unit, building or structure or alteration or expansion or relocation of any dwelling unit, building or structure until it has been reviewed and approved by the Development Review Board (DRB) (Board) or by the Director of Community Development (Director) through a Ministerial Staff Review (MSR), as deemed appropriate and in compliance with current state law and this Code. In the case of any projects in the R-1 and R-A zones any proposed land division or any proposed development of dwelling units, including Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADU), these all shall be subject to a ministerial staff design review and shall comply with the development/design standards and procedures as detailed in the Administrative Manual for Residential Development and other applicable provisions of this Code and state law, as each are amended from time to time. These reviews shall assure both pedestrian and vehicular access, acceptable street-viewable aesthetics, landscaping and consistent architectural compatibility between all dwelling units and other structures on a lot.

An application for a Development Review Board (DRB) or a Ministerial Staff Review (MSR) consideration of a development project shall be filed with the Director of Community Development to be assigned to the appropriate review process and shall obtain approval with conditions prior to application for a building permit. The Director of Community Development or designee may determine that a Board review is not necessary and may be substituted with a ministerial staff review where the proposed development project is a modification or addition to an existing building and that is compatible with the existing building character, does not substantially modify architectural elements viewable from the street and complies with the Lakewood Municipal Code.

The required application materials, plans and site pictures shall be submitted in conformance with the standards that are on file in the office of the Director of Community Development. This includes, where applicable, the appropriate application form, site photos, a site plan, a floor plan, a roof plan, four-sided elevations, landscaping, and irrigation plans. The submitted plans shall be fully dimensioned with compass orientation points, showing all proposed and existing structures on the entire parcel, and indicate any demolition that is proposed.

The Development Review Board and Ministerial Staff Review fee shall be as established by City Council Resolution and added to each building permit fee as required by Article VIII of the Lakewood Municipal Code. The purpose of the fee shall be to reimburse the City for its estimated cost in reviewing development project plans.

The Development Review Board ("Board") or the Director of Community Development or designee ("Director") shall determine prior to approval whether a proposed development is in compliance with this code and other applicable laws. In addition, the Board or Director shall determine which conditions should be imposed to assure that the purposes and objectives of this Part will be realized. Consideration shall be given to site plans, landscaping, general design and development, setbacks, heights, vehicular and pedestrian ingress and egress, and relationship of such factors to existing development in the immediate or surrounding areas, as well as proposed future development in the surrounding or immediate areas as indicated on any General or Specific Plan of the City.

The Board, in compliance with the foregoing, may approve, conditionally approve subject to modifications, or disapprove any application for a building permit to relocate, construct, alter, expand or demolish such a building or structure provided all of the following findings are made:

In approving the development plan, the Board or Director shall approve the site plan, floor plan, roof plan and four-sided building elevations showing thereon the location of all buildings and uses thereof, all rooms and use thereof, other structures and use thereof, freestanding signs, off-street parking spaces or facilities, outdoor seating areas with protection from potential vehicle intrusion, trash enclosures or other storage areas, improvements, utilities, HVAC equipment, water heaters, landscaping, storm water detention/retention, accessible paths-of-travel, and other accessibility features and facilities, storage areas and exterior elevation plans.

The applicant or other project representative shall be provided an opportunity to respond to requests to modify or correct the development project to conform to the requirements of the Board or Director. The decision of the Board or Director to approve the development plan as submitted with only insignificant or minor changes, approval may be granted with conditions with or without concurrence of the applicant. The Board or Director may continue consideration of the proposed development for the applicant to submit corrected plans to conform to the project development requirements established by the Board or objective development standards imposed by the Director in the instance of a ministerial review of residential development. The applicant shall be given reasonable time to respond to requests for redesign or correction of proposed development components. The Board or Director may withdraw the project from further consideration if the applicant fails to respond to requests for redesign or submit additional information as requested within sixty (60) days.

In the instance where the proposed development project requires a Conditional Use Permit or other discretionary action by the Planning and Environment Commission and/or the City Council, then the action of the Board shall be an advisory recommendation to the Planning and Environment Commission and shall not be considered a final action or be subject to appeal.

Otherwise, the decision of the Board or Director shall be final and conclusive, and effective five (5) City business days after giving of notice thereof via electronic notification and/or via the United States Postal Service to the applicant, the property owner, and any other person requesting notice, unless that within that five (5) City business days an appeal in writing is properly filed with the Secretary of the Planning and Environment Commission by the applicant, property owner, any other protestant, or any member of the City Council. Any person entitled to or requesting notice of the Board or Director decision may waive his or her notification and/or request notification by another means.

All properly filed appeals shall, within thirty (30) days following receipt of the appeal and required fees, be scheduled for a future hearing date before the Planning and Environment Commission. A written Notice of Hearing shall be delivered and sent via the United States Postal Service at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing. The notice shall be sent to the appellant, the applicant, the property owner and any other person requesting notice of the time and place of the hearing. No other notice of the hearing is required. The Notice of Hearing may be waived and/or delivery method substituted by another means of notification by any person entitled thereto.

The Planning and Environment Commission in making its determination shall consider the record before the Board and such additional evidence deemed relevant and received by it at the hearing. The Planning and Environment Commission in making the determination shall be governed by the terms and provisions of this Part, and its decision shall be final, conclusive and effective five (5) City business days after the giving of notice thereof unless within that time period an appellant files a written appeal of the decision to the City Council with the City Clerk.

The appeal hearing before the City Council in the event of such a properly filed appeal shall be noticed, held and determined within the same time and manner specified herein for appeals to the Planning and Environment Commission. The decision of the City Council shall be final.

Any appeal shall be accompanied by that fee as established by resolution of the City Council.

No provisions of this Part shall be deemed to grant to the Board or the Director any power or authority to deny any use permitted by the Zoning Ordinance, unless contrary to the terms and provisions of the General Plan. No provision of this Part shall be deemed to grant to the Board or the Director the power or authority to grant any use in any zone not authorized by the Zoning Ordinance.

No person shall violate or fail to comply with any approved development plan or any condition or provision thereof, nor comply with any approved development plan for the parcel on which the building or structure is located. Any occupancy or use of any structure or parcel in violation of an approved development plan is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance.