Development Services Review. Final Report. Zucker July 2016

Morgan Hill, California

121

Zucker Systems

Interviews with staff indicated that zoning interpretations need to be consistently

documented so they are not readily accessible to staff and applicants.

127.

Recommendation:

The Community Development Director should ensure

that all code interpretations are documented, electronically accessible, and

searchable. They should also be available on the website for customer access.

Staff also reported that there might be opportunity to further streamline the

development review process for some applications. For example, the Architectural

and Site Plan Review application process is an unnecessary extra step in the case of

some bundled projects, as the application submittal requirements are largely the

same. An Architectural and Site Plan Review application bundled with a Conditional

Use Permit (CUP) requires largely the same submittal materials, but the Planning

Commission approves the CUP, while the Director approves the Architectural and

Site Plan Review application.

ROCESS

SSUES

Overview

Planning Division application processes vary depending on the type of application

submitted, as shown in the following section, applications are reviewed and approved

by several different entities, including, staff, the Board of Zoning Adjustments &

Appeals, the Planning Commission and the City Council.

Decision Making Authority

Table 21 below shows the Decision Making Authority for planning applications.