A Los Angeles City commission Thursday OK’d a proposed ordinance that would update the city’s coastal development permit program to update and clarify the notice and appeal process for those projects.
The Los Angeles City Planning unanimously voted to approve the Coastal Development Permit Program Ordinance, which is intended to better align the city’s coastal permit process, or CDPs, with regulations set by the California Coastal Act.
City Planner Bonnie Kim reviewed the proposed changes during the commissioner’s Thursday meeting.
Highlights of the proposed ordinance would establish the following:
— A 24-day noticing period for hearings on CDPs;
— Increase the notification radius from 100 to 300 feet from proposed project sites;
— Clarification that any member of the public can appeal a city CDP approval to the Coastal Commission;
— Clarification that the proposed 15-day appeal period is 15 calendar days and include at least 10 working days;
— Clarification that the 30-day deadline for hearing appeals filed with the city engineer or area Planning Commission, and the 10-day deadline for mailing notices of appeals to interested parties are calendar days; and
— No fees would be charged for appeals of local CDPs.
Kim said the city’s authority to issue CDPs was originally certified in 1978 by the California Coastal Commission.
The California Coastal Commission also approved the proposed changes to the city’s CDP process on June 8, which Kim said was necessary under the California Coastal Act.
“All the timelines were standardized to align with the overall timelines that we established in the comprehensive Processes and Procedures Ordinance. So, generally about 24 days for notices, and 15 days for appeals,” Kim said.
She also said that if city leaders approved the proposed ordinance, the “no-fee” for appeals of local CDPs would be “unique.”
“The coastal act states that no appeal shall be charged for coastal development permits for a city that does not have a local certified coastal program,” Kim said. “But other entitlements that are not specific to the coastal development permitting process still a standard appeal fee applies.”
The proposed ordinance will move forward for further consideration by the L.A. City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee at a later date.