Land Use
The Process
Before a final engineering plan is submitted for review to obtain a permit from Public Works, a subdivision, partition, annexation, rezoning, and commercial site (site plan review of a commercial/industrial building or multi-family/mixed use building) and sites that impact geologic hazards, natural resource overlay districts and historic districts are required to go through a land use process. Land use is accomplished in 3 steps that show Development Services involvement in the process.
Pre-Application
- Development Services reviews the site for road and utility improvements
- Development Services reviews the site for stormwater requirements
- Development Services reviews the site for geologic hazards
Completeness of Application
A complete application for Development Services includes:
- Preliminary Engineering Plans and Stormwater Report
- Geotechnical Report showing the site is buildable (when applicable)
- Answers to code that specifically answer how the project meets code
Use our checklists to know what is required.
Staff Report
Development Services provides Conditions of Approval that may include, but are not limited to:
- Various standards that must be followed or designed for
- Various fees and sureties that are required
- Various documents that must be provided and/or recorded
This process is detailed more on the Community Development page. Questions about the land use process should be directed to Planning staff.
The following is a possible timeline of development:
- Submission of a pre-application conference request: Day 1
- Pre-Application Conference: Approximately 3 weeks from submission of request
- Submission of Land Use Application: Timing based on applicant (assume 30 days)
- Review of Land Use Application Completeness: 30 Days
- Land Use Decision: 120 days from application deemed complete
- Submission for Public Works Permits: Timing based on applicant (assume 60 days)
- Review of 1st set of plans: 30 days
- Revision by applicant's consultant: Timing based on civil engineering consultant (assume 30 days)
- Review of 2nd set of plans: 30 days (possibly less depending on amount of revisions)
- Revision by applicant's consultant: Timing based on civil engineering consultant (assume 30 days)
- Review of 3rd Final set of plans: 10 days
- Request for pre-construction meeting: Timing based on applicant (assume 14 days)
- Pre-Construction Meeting: Set 5 to 7 days from request
- Non-Subdivision/Partition Developments: Pick up of Building Permit (if Building Permit is approved)
- Start of Construction: No public works items can be completed without approved material submittals
- Construction: Dependent on project
- Platting: When construction is complete
- Maintenance Period: 2 years from end of construction
An estimate of how long it takes from requesting a pre-application to starting construction is 382 days. This information can be used as a guide but can significantly change based on workload, completeness of submittal, applicant and consultant timelines, and more. Many projects are not deemed complete after the 1st review which can delay a project. Most projects take 2 to 3 reviews for permit approval although we have seen up to 6 or 7 reviews. We have seen consultants take weeks or even months to turn around a set of plans to address revisions.
The best thing to do is to follow our checklists and communicate as much as possible with staff to make your project go smoothly and efficiently!
A video about How to Be Involved as a Member of the Public is available on YouTube.
A monthly Community Development Stakeholders Group meets to discuss changes in staff, processes, and codes to make the permitting process more effective and efficient.
Geologic Hazards can make development difficult. The City provides the applicant with as much information as possible to reduce the risks of developing one of these properties.