§ 35-402. Completeness Review.

The provisions of this section apply to any application under this Chapter, unless otherwise provided in the provisions pertaining to the regulations for the specific application or permit.

(a)

Pre-Application Conference. Before any application is filed with the director, the applicant may attend a pre-application meeting with the director or his designee. The purpose of the pre-application meeting is to discuss, in general, the procedures and requirements for an application pursuant to this chapter.

(b)

Application Materials.

(1)

No application shall be deemed complete unless all of the information required by Appendix "B" is included, and all filing fees required by Appendix "C" have been paid. An application, which includes such information, shall be deemed complete.

(2)

Current application materials shall be made available in the applicable department offices. Such applications shall be filed in advance of any public hearing or public meeting required pursuant to this chapter or statute. The development services director may establish a schedule for filing any application requiring action by the planning commission, zoning commission, or the city council, while the historic preservation officer may establish a schedule for filing any application requiring action by the historic and design review commission. Such schedule shall provide adequate time for notice and/or publication consistent with the applicable state statutes and this chapter. Completed applications shall be filed according to any published schedule of the applicable department.

(c)

Review Procedures. These procedures shall be used to review any application for completeness unless a different procedure is established elsewhere in this chapter. For purposes of this subsection, the term "director" shall include any administrative official with original jurisdiction to review an application for completeness, and the phrase "appellate agency" shall include any agency, board or commission with jurisdiction to review any decision of the administrative official for completeness (see subsection (1), below).

(1)

Jurisdiction. Unless the provisions pertaining to a particular application or development order or permit prescribe otherwise:

A.

All applications for approval of a development order or a permit shall be reviewed by the applicable director for completeness.

B.

All decisions of the applicable director or other administrative official pertaining to completeness may be appealed to (1) the board of adjustment, in the case of a zoning application (article IV, division 3 of this chapter) (see section 35-481 of this chapter), (2) the historic and design review commission, in the case of a certificate of appropriateness, or (3) the planning commission for all other applications.

(2)

Time Limits Triggered by Complete application. Whenever this article establishes a time period for processing of an application by the city, such time period shall not commence until the applicable director has reviewed such application for completeness in order to determine whether the application has been properly submitted and the applicant has corrected all deficiencies in such application. Review for completeness of application forms is solely for the purpose of determining whether preliminary information required for submission with the application is sufficient to allow further processing, and shall not constitute a decision as to whether application complies with the provisions of this chapter.

(3)

Review By Applicable Director and Appeal - Default Procedure.

A.

Unless a different procedure is described in this article, the provisions of this subsection shall apply to the review of an application for completeness.

B.

Not later than five (5) working days after the applicable director shall determine, in writing, whether the application is complete and shall immediately transmit the determination to the applicant. If the written determination is not made within five (5) days after receipt of the application, the application shall be deemed complete for purposes of this chapter. Upon receipt of any resubmittal of the application, a new five-day period shall begin, during which period the applicable director shall determine the completeness of the application. If the application is determined not to be complete, the applicable director's determination shall specify those parts of the application which are incomplete and shall indicate the manner in which they can be made complete, including a list and thorough description of the specific information needed to complete the application. The applicant shall submit materials to the applicable director in response to the list and description. The applicant shall have 35 calendar days to provide the supplemental information before the application will be closed with a decision for denial.

C.

If the application together with the submitted materials are determined not to be complete, the applicant may appeal that decision in writing to the appellate agency. The appellate agency shall render a final written determination on the appeal not later than the next available meeting after receipt of the applicant's written appeal. Notwithstanding a decision by the applicable director that the application and submitted materials are not complete, if the final written determination on the appeal is not made within that five-day period, the application with the submitted materials shall be deemed complete for the purposes of this chapter.

D.

Applications made to the historic and design review commission shall be reviewed for completeness within ten (10) days of receipt of the application. The historic preservation officer (HPO) shall determine, in writing, whether the application is complete and shall immediately transmit the determination to the applicant.

E.

Nothing in this section precludes an applicant and the applicable director from mutually agreeing to an extension of any time limit provided by this section.

(4)

Time Limits. If a time limit other than that prescribed by subsection (3), above, is prescribed for a determination of completeness for a specific application for development approval and the reviewing agency fails to act within said time period, the application shall be deemed complete.

(5)

Limitation on Further Information Requests. After the applicable director accepts an application as complete or following a determination by the appellate agency that the application is complete, the applicable director or the reviewing agency shall not subsequently request of an applicant any new or additional information which was not specified in Appendix "B." The applicable director or the reviewing agency may, in the course of processing the application, request the applicant to clarify, amplify, correct, or otherwise supplement the information required for the application. The applicant has thirty-five (35) calendar days to provide the supplemental information before the application will be closed with a decision for denial.

The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as requiring an applicant to submit, with his or her initial application, the entirety of the information which the reviewing agency may require in order to take final action on the application. Prior to accepting an application, the applicable director shall inform the applicant of any information included in Appendix "B" that will subsequently be required from the applicant in order to complete final action on the application.

(Ord. No. 98697 § 1) (Ord. No. 2007-05-30-0592, § 2, 5-30-07) (Ord. No. 2009-01-15-0001, § 2, 1-15-09) (Ord. No. 2010-11-18-0985, § 2, 11-18-10) (Ord. No. 2011-03-31-0240, § 2, 3-31-11; Ord. No. 2015-12-17-1077 , § 2, 12-17-15)