A. The Zoning Administrator may, at her/his option, refer any of the matters on which she/he is authorized to rule and/or issue a permit to the Planning Commission for review. In addition, a project applicant may request that any such matter be referred directly to the Planning Commission for action. In such cases, a public hearing as provided herein shall be mandatory.

B. An interested party who disagrees with the ruling of the Zoning Administrator may appeal such ruling to the Planning Commission within 10 business days from the date on which the decision was made. Said appeal shall be in writing, accompanied by the required appeal fee(s), and filed with the City Clerk upon forms provided by the Development Services Department and shall specify therein that the decision of the Zoning Administrator was in error and identify the facts and circumstances on which the claim of error is based, with supporting evidence. Failure to timely file an appeal with the City Clerk and/or to identify with specificity all facts and circumstances on which the appeal is based shall result in the appeal being rejected and not processed by the City. If an appeal is filed within the time limit specified, it shall automatically stay the proceedings in the matter until a determination is made by the Planning Commission. Upon the filing of the appeal, the City Clerk’s Office shall notify the Director of Development Services who will set the matter for public hearing, giving the same notice as required in CVMC 19.12.070 and 19.12.080. The Zoning Administrator shall transmit to the Planning Commission a copy of its decision and findings, minutes of the hearing and all other evidence, maps, papers, and exhibits upon which the Zoning Administrator made its decision. The hearing on said appeal shall be processed by the City Clerk in the same manner as a permit within the original jurisdiction of the Zoning Administrator. In such cases, a public hearing as provided herein shall be mandatory. Once a valid, written application for appeal has been filed, the City Clerk’s Office shall take no longer than 30 calendar days to set the matter for public hearing at a regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting. The meeting date shall also be no more than 60 calendar days from the application’s filing date. If, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, the City is not able under the circumstances to schedule the appeal hearing within 60 days after the date of the valid appeal application, then the appeal hearing shall be scheduled within a reasonable time thereafter. The decision of the Planning Commission shall be final.

C. When an applicant applies for more than one permit or other approval for a single development, the applications shall be consolidated for processing and shall be reviewed by a single decision maker or decision-making body. The consolidated application shall be heard by the decision maker or decision-making body associated with the highest level action among the applications to be considered. The findings required for approval of each permit shall be considered individually, consistent with CVMC 19.14.080, 19.14.190, and/or 19.14.582 as applicable. For projects subject to design review and that are consolidated to a higher decision-making level, one member of the Planning Commission with design expertise may advise the staff on the design aspects of the project prior to the public hearing. The recommendations will be included in the staff report to the highest level decision-making body. (Ord. 3563 § 11, 2024; Ord. 3544 § 12, 2023; Ord. 3268 § 3, 2013; Ord. 3153 § 2 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 2575 § 1, 1993; Ord. 2365 § 1, 1990; Ord. 1212 § 1, 1969; prior code § 33.1302(D)).