Minor Administrative Permits (TC-21-20)
Minor Administrative Permits (TC-21-20)
Minor Administrative Permits (TC-21-20): This text change proposes amending the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to create a process for Minor Administrative Permits. Read the draft ordinance.
Background information:
The City issues a variety of different zoning permits for certain improvements and uses that do not fall into the site plan tiering system. Examples include home occupation, temporary use, and individual sign permits. At present, there is no formal process in the UDO for how these permits are obtained and issued which can cause confusion for City staff and external customers.
A separate but related issue is the classification of changes of use where no improvements to the site or building are proposed. Currently, these proposals are classified as Tier 1 site plans which requires the preparation of a plan document, payment of a fee, and review by multiple staff persons. Creating a minor administrative permit will allow these projects to avoid the more expensive and time intensive site plan process. It will also allow staff to exempt certain activities that have a de-minimis impact such as the erection of an A-Frame sign or the establishment of a home-occupation use.
Current Rules:
The term zoning permit is used throughout the UDO, however it is not explicitly defined, and depending on the context can refer to anything from a site plan approval to a sign permit. While the site plan process is described in detail in Article 10.2 Review Procedures, there is no such procedure for minor zoning permits.
Proposed Text Change:
TC-21-20 would create a subsection within Article 10.2 for Minor Administrative Permits detailing which projects require such a permit and which projects are exempted. The text change would also make clear that a change of use within the same Site Plan Group or to a lower Site Plan group, where no improvements are proposed, can be processed as a Minor Administrative Permit.
Public Meeting Schedule:
This text change is scheduled for a Planning Commission meeting in August. We will be collecting comments here through August 1. Comments after this date should be submitted directly to Keegan McDonald via email.