Summary: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 The most important land use and planning decisions in any city are made by the city council. However, cities generally establish lower level planning bodies to handle issues that require public input but that are not necessarily seen as needing a council level decision. Of course, the process established almost always allows an appeal to the council, so that members of the public can receive review at the highest level, should they be dissatisfied with a lower level decision. Typically, a city council will create the position of “Zoning Administrator,” or ZA. The ZA is usually a staff person who makes decisions on behalf of the city where public input is desirable. I recently had an opportunity to participate in a ZA hearing at the City of Santa Cruz. I found it professional, and fairly conducted, with all parties (including the city staff) having an ample opportunity to express their views. City councils also appoint a “Planning Commission,” comprised of a number of citizen volunteers, who hear more involved and controversial planning and land use items. Often, the decisions of the planning commission are “advisory” to the council. Sometimes the commission can make a “final” decision, subject to appeal. If you’d like to see the City of Santa Cruz ZA and Planning Commission in action, be advised that the ZA meets today, at 10:00 a.m., and the planning commission meets tomorrow, at 7:00 p.m. Links to the agendas are in today’s transcript. More Information: Land Use Links Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission – Meeting of April 3, 2014 City of Santa Cruz Zoning Administrator – Meeting of April 2, 2014
