TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona - Director of Planning, Building and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Michael Parker - Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Updates Amending the Planning Commission Bylaws
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution to amend the Planning Commission Bylaws. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The Planning Commission’s Bylaws provide the rules and procedures for the conduct of the Commission’s meetings and business. The last substantive update of the Planning Commission Bylaws occurred in 2008. The 2008 Bylaws have been used for the last 17 years and continue to govern how the Commission conducts its meetings (Attachment A - Adopted 2008 Planning Commission Bylaws).
In 2017 and 2018, the Planning Commission considered and discussed proposed changes to the adopted Bylaws that would allow meetings to be more efficient, impose reasonable limits on applicant and public comment, encourage advanced submittal of materials to be considered by the Commission and other non-substantive changes to correct outdated nomenclature. Per Board policy, the Planning Commission Bylaws must be adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
The 2017 proposed Bylaws were forwarded to the Board for adoption in January 2018, but the Board remanded the item back to the Commission to solicit additional public comment. The Commission last solicited public comment and discussion of the Bylaws was in March 2018. The Bylaws update was ultimately delayed by the 2017 and 2020 Wildfires, the 2020 pandemic and other priorities of the Department. With the new Commissioners appointed in 2025, staff reinitiated the process to update the 2008 Bylaws.
On February 28, 2025 and March 7, 2025, staff emailed the Department’s interested parties list soliciting public comments on the Bylaws and announcing the Commission would consider amendments to the Bylaws at their regularly scheduled April 2, 2025, meeting. A copy of the 2008 adopted Bylaws were provided for public review and staff had requested written comments be provided by noon on Monday, March 31, 2025. Staff received one public comment on March 14, 2025, prior to the Planning Commission meeting on this item (Attachment E).
Attachment B is the proposed redline changes to the Bylaws recommended unanimously by the Planning Commission in a 5-0 vote on April 2, 2025. Attachment C is the resolution to amend the Planning Commission Bylaws along with a clean version of the proposed changes.
In summary, the proposed changes include: 1) updating the outdated name of the Department and Commission; 2) timelines for applicant presentations; 3), public testimony protocol; 4) deadlines for submittal of materials to be considered by the Commission; and 5) other edits to align with the Board of Supervisors’ Policies for Conducting Business (Attachment D), creating better consistency between the Commission’s meeting structure and the Board’s.
Staff, along with the Commission, believe the proposed changes will lead to a more efficient and transparent hearing process.
Once the Board adopts the Planning Commission’s Bylaws, they will be disseminated to the Commission and posted on the County’s website so applicants and members of the public will have a full and complete understanding of Commission meeting protocol and conduct.
Today’s recommended action is that the Board:
1. Accept staff comments on the proposed revisions;
2. Solicit public comment;
3. Discussion, motion, second, and vote to adopt a resolution to amend the Planning Commission’s Bylaws.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
The Planning Commission’s current Bylaws were last updated in 2008 and are outdated. An update to the Bylaws are warranted and will bring the Commission’s Bylaws into alignment with the Board’s Policies for Conducting Business. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
The Planning Commission will continue to operate under the 2008 Bylaws. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.