Planning & Environmental Law News — May 2008
Model Statute on Local Land Use Process
(to be Presented to the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in August)
The next generation of model land use regulations will be presented to the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in August. In the tradition of the Standard City Planning and Zoning Enabling Acts drafted by an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the 1920s and the American Law Institute's A Model Land Development Code (1976), this Model Statute on Land Use Process has been prepared by a Joint Task Force of the State and Local Government and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Sections of the American Bar Association. The task force was chaired by Edward J. Sullivan of Portland, Oregon, and its members included:
Michael Asimow, Los Angeles
David E. Cardwell, Orlando, Florida
Cynthia Drew, Washington, D.C.
John Gedid, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Jim Godlewski, Neenah, Wisconsin
Otto Hetzel, Bethesda, Maryland
Richard Lehmann, Madison, Wisconsin
Robert Lincoln, Sarasota, Florida
Daniel Mandelker, FAICP, St. Louis
Christine Monte, Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Ed Schoenbaum, Springfield, Missouri
Bryan Wenter, AICP, Walnut Creek, California
Alexander White, Chicago
Daniel Mandelker, FAICP, the Howard A. Stamper Professor of Law at Washington University of St. Louis and a consultant to the American Planning Association's Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook, was a member of this task force and assisted in the preparation of this Model Statute on Local Land Use Process, based on provisions of Chapter 10 of the Legislative Guidebook
GENERAL PROVISIONS
101 Definitions
102 Purposes
103 Exemptions for Corridor Maps [Optional]
II. DEVELOPMENT PERMIT REVIEW PROCESS FOR LAND-USE DECISIONS
201 Development Permit; Development Permit Review Process
202 Development Permit Applications
203 Completeness Determination
204 Administrative Review
205 Notice of Record Hearing
206 Methods of Notice
207 Record Hearings
208 Consolidated Permit Review Process
209 Appeals
210 Time Limits on Land-Use Decisions
211 Fees
[Editor's note: The following sections will be included in the June 2008 issue.]
III. HEARING EXAMINERS
IV. LAND-USE REVIEW BOARD
V. ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS AND REMEDIES
VI. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF LAND-USE DECISIONS
GENERAL PROVISIONS
101 Definitions
"Administrative Review" means a review of an application for a development permit based on documents, materials and reports, with no testimony or submission of evidence as would be allowed at a record hearing.
"Aggrieved" A person is "aggrieved" if the land-use decision has caused, or is expected to cause, injury to that a person [distinct from any injury caused to the public generally] [if the asserted interests of the person are not inconsistent with or completely unrelated to those the local government is required to consider when it makes the land-use decision].
"Appeals Board"means any officer or body designated by the legislative body or by state law to hear appeals from land-use decisions, including but not limited to the Land-Use Review Board, the local planning agency, local planning commission, a hearing examiner, or any other official or agency that makes a land-use decision on a development permit.
"Certificate of Appropriateness"means the written decision by a local historic preservation or design review board that a proposed development is in compliance with a historic preservation or design review ordinance.
"Certificate of Compliance"means the written determination by a local government that a completed development complies with the terms and conditions of a development permit and that authorizes the initial or changed occupancy and use of the building, structure, or land to which it applies. A "Certificate of compliance" may also include a temporary certificate to be issued by the local government, during the completion of development that allows partial use or occupancy for a period not to exceed [2] years and under such conditions and restrictions that will adequately assure safety of the occupants and substantial compliance with the terms of the development permit.
"Conditional Use"means a use or category of uses authorized to be considered for approval, but not permitted as of right, by a local government's land development regulations in designated zoning districts pursuant to Section 502.
"Consistent with the Comprehensive Plan" means that development regulations, a proposed amendment to existing land development regulations, or a proposed land-use action is consistent with the local comprehensive plan when the regulations, amendment, or action:
(a) furthers, or at least does not interfere with, the goals and policies contained in the local comprehensive plan;
(b) is compatible with the proposed future land uses and densities and/or intensities contained in the local comprehensive plan; and
(c) carries out, as applicable, any specific proposals for community facilities, including transportation facilities, other specific public actions, or actions proposed by nonprofit and for-profit organizations that are contained in the local comprehensive plan.
In determining whether the regulations, amendment, or action satisfies the requirements of subparagraph (a) above, the local planning agency may take into account any relevant guidelines contained in the local comprehensive plan.
"Comprehensive Plan" means the comprehensive plan required by [cite section of law].
"Confronting" means across a street, highway or other public right-of-way from a property on which an application for a development permit has been submitted.
"Development" means any building, construction, renovation, mining, extraction, dredging, filling, excavation, or drilling activity or operation; any material change in the use or appearance of any structure or in the land itself; the division of land into parcels; any change in the intensity or use of land, such as an increase in the number of dwelling units in a structure or a change to a commercial or industrial use from a less intensive use; any activity that alters a shore, beach, [seacoast,] river, stream, lake, pond, canal, marsh, dune area, woodlands, wetland, endangered species habitat, aquifer or other resource area, including [coastal construction or] other activity.
"Development Permit" means any written approval or decision by a local government under its land development regulations that gives authorization to undertake some category of development. A "development permit" includes but is not limited to a building permit, zoning permit, development agreement, final subdivision plat, minor subdivision, resubdivision, conditional use, variance, appeal decision, planned unit development, site plan, [and] certificate of appropriateness[.] [, and zoning map amendment(s) by the legislative body]. "Development permit" does not mean the adoption or amendment of a local comprehensive plan or any subplan, the adoption or amendment of the text of land development regulations, or a liquor license or other type of business license.
"Enforcement Action" means an action pursuant to [cite law].
"Hearing" means a hearing held pursuant to this Chapter.
"Issued" or "Issuance" means: (a) [3] days after a written decision on a development permit is mailed by the local government or, if not mailed, the date on which the local government provides notice that the written decision is publicly available; or (b) if the land-use decision is made by ordinance or resolution of the legislative body, the date the legislative body adopts the ordinance or resolution, or the date on which the ordinance or resolution is to become effective.
"Land Development Regulation" means any zoning, subdivision, impact fee, site plan, corridor map, affordable housing, hillside floodplain, wetland, stormwater, resource extraction or historic preservation regulation, and any other governmental regulations that affect the use, density, or intensity of land.
"Land Use" means the conduct of any activity on land, including, but not limited to, the continuation of any activity, the commencement of which is defined herein as "development."
"Land-Use Decision" means a decision made by a local government officer or body, including the legislative body, on a development permit application, an application for a conditional use, variance, or mediation, or a formal complaint pursuant to [cite law] and includes decisions made following a record hearing or record appeal. It also means an enforcement order and/or supplemental enforcement order pursuant to [cite law], but only for purposes of judicial review pursuant to Section 601 et seq. A "completeness decision," "development permit," and "master permit" are "land-use decisions" for purposes of this Chapter.
"Master Permit" means the development permit issued by a local government under its land development regulations and any other applicable ordinances, rules, and statutes that incorporates all development permits together as a single permit and that allows development to commence.
"Owner" means any legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including the holder of an option or a contract to purchase, whether or not such option or contract is subject to any condition.
"Person" includes a natural person, an entity such as a partnership or corporation, a community (neighborhood) organization, or a governmental or other entity.
"Record" means the written decision on a development permit application, and any documents identified in the written decision as having been considered as the basis for the decision.
"Record Appeal" means an appeal to a local government officer or body from a record hearing on a development permit application.
"Record Hearing" means a hearing, conducted by a hearing officer or body authorized by the local government to conduct such hearings, that creates the local government's record through testimony and submission of evidence and information, under procedures required by this Chapter. "Record hearing" also means a record hearing held in an appeal, when no record hearing was held on the development permit application.
102 Purposes
The purposes of this Chapter are to:
(1) provide for the timely consideration of development permit applications;
(2) provide a development permit review process for land-use decisions by local governments;
(3) authorize a consolidated development permit review process for land-use decisions by local governments;
(4) provide for the appointment of hearing examiners;
(5) provide for a Land-Use Review Board;
(6) authorize conditional uses, variances, and mediation in land development regulations; and
(7) provide a judicial review process for land-use decisions.
DEVELOPMENT PERMIT REVIEW PROCESS FOR
LAND-USE DECISIONS
201 Development Permit; Development Permit Review Process
(1) The legislative body of each local government shall adopt, as part of its land development regulations, an ordinance that establishes a development permit review process for applications for development permits. The ordinance may require or authorize a pre-application conference on a proposed development permit application, and may specify the responsibilities of the local government and the applicant in the pre-application conference.
(2) The ordinance establishing a development permit review process shall contain a list of all development permits required by the local government. [Additional language for this paragraph has been moved to the Appendix.]
(3) The ordinance establishing a development permit review process may provide for no more than [1] record hearing for each development permit and [1] record appeal. The ordinance may also authorize the administrative review of development permit applications without a hearing, as provided by Section 204, and [1] appeal for each development permit, in the form of a record hearing. The ordinance may assign the responsibility for record hearings, record appeals and administrative reviews to the legislative body, the local planning commission, or such other officers or bodies as the legislative body shall determine.
(4) The ordinance establishing a development permit review process shall establish reasonable time limits on the validity of development permits. A reasonable time limit is one that provides adequate time to complete the development authorized, based upon a good faith effort towards completion.
(5) For the purposes of this Chapter, the ordinance establishing the development permit review process may define the amendment of the zoning map by the legislative body as a development permit.
(6) Within a local government's jurisdiction, no building or structure for which a valid building permit has been issued may be denied permission, upon payment of a reasonable fee and compliance with any standards required for connection to existing lines of a local government-owned utility at the permit applicant's expense.
202 Development Permit Applications
(1) As part of the ordinance establishing the development permit review process, the legislative body shall specify in detail the information required in every application for a development permit and the criteria it will apply to determine the completeness of any such application. The ordinance shall require the local government to notify applicants for development permits, at the time they make application, of the completeness determination, notice, and time-limit requirements required by this Chapter for the review and approval of development permits.
(2) No local government may require a waiver of the time limits on a completeness determination or a decision on a development permit as a condition of accepting or processing an application for a development permit, nor shall a local government find an application incomplete because it does not include a waiver of these time limits.
203 Completeness Determination
(1) Within [30] days after receiving a development permit application, the local government shall mail or provide in person a written determination to the applicant, stating either that the application is complete, or that the application is incomplete.
(2) If the local government determines that the application is incomplete, it shall identify in its determination the parts of the application which are incomplete, and shall indicate the manner in which they can be made complete, including a list and specific description of the additional information needed to complete the application. The applicant shall then submit this additional information to the local government within [30] days of the determination pursuant to paragraph (1), unless the local government agrees in writing to a longer period.
(3) The local government shall determine in writing that an application is complete within [30] days after receipt of the additional information indicated in the list and description provided to the applicant under paragraph (2).
(4) A development permit application is deemed complete under this Section if the local government does not provide a written determination to the applicant that the application is incomplete within [30] days of the receipt of an application under paragraph (1) or within [30] days of the receipt of any additional information submitted under paragraph (2).
(5) A development permit application is complete for purposes of this Section when it meets the completeness requirements of, or is deemed complete under, this Section.
(6) After a development application is complete or deemed complete, the local government may request additional information or studies if new information is required or a substantial change in the proposed development occurs. It shall make a completeness determination as required by this section for any additional information or studies submitted.
204 Administrative Review
(1)When required.The ordinance establishing the development permit review process may authorize local government officers and bodies to conduct an administrative review of development permit applications without a record hearing. The ordinance shall designate the development permits that are subject to an administrative review.
(2) Participation. Documents and materials concerning a development permit application may be submitted to the officer or body that will conduct the administrative review by:
(a) The applicant; and
(b) Any person supporting or opposing the application.
(3) Conflicts.Any decision-making officer or member of a decision-making body having a direct or indirect financial interest in property that is the subject of an administrative review [who is related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the owner of property that is the subject of an administrative review or to a person who has submitted documents and materials concerning an application], or who resides or owns property within [500] feet of property that is the subject of an administrative review, shall recuse him- or herself from the matter and shall state in writing the reasons for such recusal.
(4) Findings, decision, and notice.
(a) A local government may approve or deny a development permit application, or may approve an application subject to conditions. Any approval, denial, or conditions attached to a development permit approval shall be based on and implement the land development regulations, and goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan.
(b) Any decision on a development permit application shall be based upon and accompanied by a written statement that:
1. states the land development regulations and goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan relevant to the decision;
2. states the facts relied upon in making the decision;
3. is consistent with the land development regulations, the goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan;
4. responds to all relevant issues raised by documents and materials submitted to the administrative review; and
5. states the conditions that apply to the development permit, the conditions that must be satisfied before a certificate of compliance can issue, and the conditions that are continuing requirements and apply after a certificate of compliance is issued.
(c) A local government shall give written notice of its decision to the applicant and to all other persons that submitted documents and materials [and shall publish a summary of its decision in a newspaper of general circulation and may [or shall] publish the decision on a computer-accessible information network].
(5) Determination of compliance. The officer or body that grants a development permit shall issue a determination of compliance if the completed development is in accordance with the conditions of the development permit that must be satisfied before a determination of compliance can issue. The officer or body may delegate the responsibility of issuing the determination of compliance to another officer. [Additional provisions are included in the Appendix.]
205 Notice of Record Hearing
(1) Notice required. If a local government holds a record hearing on a development permit application, it shall provide notice of the date of the record hearing within [15] days of a completeness determination on the application under Section 203, or within [15] days from the date an application is deemed complete under Section 203(5). Notice of the record hearing shall be mailed at least [20] days before the record hearing, and the record hearing must be held no longer than [30] days following the date that notice of the record hearing is mailed. A local government may hold a record hearing at a later date, but no more than [60] days following the date that notice of the record hearing was mailed, if state agencies or other local governments must approve or review the development application, or if the applicant for a development permit requests an extension of the time at which the record hearing will be held.
(2) Contents of notice.The notice of the record hearing shall:
(a) state the date, time, and location of the record hearing;
(b) explain the nature of the application and the proposed use or uses which could be authorized;
(c) list the land development regulations and any goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan that apply to the application;
(d) set forth the street address or other easily understood geographical reference to the subject property;
(e) state in person, or by letter or email, that a failure to raise an issue that could have been known by those parties affected by the issue at a record hearing, or the failure to provide statements or evidence sufficient to afford the local government an opportunity to respond to the issue, precludes an appeal to the appeals board based on that issue, unless the issue could not have been reasonably known by any party to the record hearing at the time of the record hearing;
(f) state that a copy of the application, all documents and evidence submitted by or on behalf of the applicant, and any applicable land development regulations or goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan, are available for inspection at no cost and that copies will be provided at reasonable printing, mailing, and related costs;
(g) state that a copy of any staff reports on the application will be available for inspection at no cost at least [7] days prior to the record hearing, and that copies will be provided at actual printing, mailing, and related costs;
(h) state that a record hearing will be held and include a general explanation of the requirements for the conduct of the record hearing; and
(i) identify, to the extent known by the local government, any other governmental units that may have jurisdiction over some aspect of the application.
206 Methods of Notice
(1) A local government shall use reasonable methods to give notice of a development permit application to the public, including [neighborhood planning councils established pursuant to law, neighborhood or community organizations recognized pursuant to law, and to] local governments or state agencies with jurisdiction. A local government shall specify the methods of public notice it will use in its development permit review ordinance, and may specify different types of notice for different categories of development permits. However, any ordinance adopted under this paragraph shall at least specify all of the following methods:
(a) conspicuous posting of the notice on the property, for site-specific development proposals;
(b) publishing the development location, description, type of permit(s) required, and location where the complete application may be reviewed, as included in the notice, in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction of the local government [and giving notice by publication on a computer-accessible information network];
(c) posting the notice on a bulletin board in a conspicuous location in the principal offices of the local government; and
(d) mailing of notice to all adjacent local governments within [1000] feet of the land on which an application for a development permit has been submitted, and to all state agencies that have jurisdiction over the development application.
(2) Other examples of reasonable methods to inform the public that a local government may include in its development permit review ordinance are:
(a) notifying public or private groups that have registered with the local government and have indicated they want to receive notification of any application for a development permit within their area of interest, as state in the registration;
(b) notifying the news media;
(c) publishing notices in appropriate regional or neighborhood newspapers or trade journals;
(d) publishing notice in local government agency newsletters or sending notice to agency mailing lists, either general lists or lists for specific proposals or subject areas;
(e) mailing notice to abutting and confronting property owners; and
(f) publication on a government-sponsored website. [All local government entities administering land use regulations shall maintain a website to be used as a means of providing public notice.]
207 Record Hearings
(1) When required. This Section applies when a local government holds a record hearing on a development permit application.
(2) Availability of materials. The applicant, or any person who will be a party to, or who will testify or would like to testify in any record hearing, shall submit all documents or evidence on which he or she intends to rely and testify to the local government, which shall make them available to the public at least [7] days prior to the record hearing.
(3) Availability of staff reports. The local government shall make any staff report it intends to use at the record hearing available to the public at least [7] days prior to the record hearing.
(4) Record hearing rules. As part of its development permit review process, the legislative body of each local government shall specify rules for the conduct of record hearings. The rules, as a minimum, shall include the requirements for record hearings contained in this Section, and may supplement, but may not conflict with, these requirements.
(5) Parties. Any person who supports or opposes the development application may be a party to any record hearing under this Section.
(6) Conduct of record hearing.
(a) The officer presiding at a record hearing, or such person as he or she may designate, [shall or may] have the power to administer oaths and otherwise conduct the hearing. The presiding officer may call any person as a witness whether or not he or she is a party.
(b) The presiding officer shall take the testimony of all witnesses relating to a development permit application under oath or affirmation, and shall permit the right of cross-examination to all parties through their attorneys, if represented, or directly, if not represented, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer and to reasonable limitations on the time and number of witnesses.
(c) Judicial rules of evidence do not apply to the record hearing, but the presiding officer may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence.
(d) If a party to the first record hearing provides additional documents or evidence, the presiding officer may [or shall] allow a continuance of the record hearing or leave the record open to allow other parties a reasonable opportunity to respond.
(e) The local government shall provide for the verbatim recording of the record hearing, and shall furnish a copy of the recording, on request, to any interested person at its expense.
(7) Ex parte communications.
(a) A land-use decision based on a record hearing may be voided if a decision-making officer, or a member of a decision-making body, engages in a substantial ex parte communication concerning issues related to the development permit application with a party to the record hearing, or a person who has a direct or indirect interest in any issue in the record hearing, unless the official or member who engages in the ex parte communication provides an opportunity to rebut the substance of any written or oral ex parte communication by promptly putting it on the record or promptly notifying all parties to the record hearing of the contents of the communication.
(b) An oral communication between local government staff and the decision-making officer or a member of a decision-making body is not a substantial ex parte communication under this paragraph.
(8) Conflicts. In addition to any requirements of state law, any decision-making officer or member of a decision-making body having a direct or indirect financial interest in property that is the subject of a record hearing, who is related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the owner of property that is the subject of a record hearing or to a party to the record hearing, or who resides or owns property within [500] feet of property that is the subject of a record hearing, shall recuse him- or herself from the matter before the commencement of the record hearing and shall state the reasons for such recusal.
(9) Findings, decision, and notice.
(a) A local government may approve or deny a development permit application, or may approve an application subject to conditions. Any approval, denial, or conditions attached to a development permit approval shall be based on and implement the land development regulations, and goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan.
(b) Any decision on a development permit application shall be based upon and accompanied by a written statement that:
1. states the land development regulations and goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan relevant to the decision;
2. states the facts relied upon in making the decision;
3. is consistent with the land development regulations, the goals, policies, and guidelines of the local comprehensive plan (including the future land-use plan map);
4. responds to all relevant issues raised by the parties to the record hearing; and
5. states the conditions that apply to the development permit, the conditions that must be satisfied before a certificate of compliance can issue, and the conditions that are continuing requirements and apply after a certificate of compliance is issued.
(c) A local government may give written notice of its decision to all parties to the proceeding [and shall publish a summary of its decision in a newspaper of general circulation and may [or shall] publish the decision on a computer-accessible information network].
(10) Certificate of compliance. The officer or body that grants a development permit shall issue a certificate of compliance if the completed development is in accordance with the conditions of the development permit that must be satisfied before a certificate of compliance can issue. The officer or body may delegate the responsibility of issuing the certificate of compliance to another officer. [Optional provisions are included in the Appendix.]
209 Appeals
(1) An appeal of a land-use decision may be taken to an appeals board within [30] days after the decision is issued
(a) by the applicant for the development permit or land-use decision, by the holder of a development permit, and by any party to the record hearing, if there has been a record hearing; or
(b) if there has been an administrative review:
1. by the applicant for the development permit; or
2. by any person, including a person supporting, opposing or affected by the application, if he, she, or it is aggrieved by the land-use decision.
(2) (a) The party appealing must file a notice of appeal specifying the
grounds for the appeal with the officer or body from whom the appeal is taken, and with the appeals board. The officer or body from whom the appeal is taken shall transmit to the appeals board the record upon which the land-use decision appealed from was taken.
(b) The appeals board may dismiss an appeal if it determines that the notice of appeal is legally insufficient on its face.
(3) An appeal that is not dismissed shall stay any and all proceedings to enforce, execute, or implement the land-use decision being appealed, and any development authorized by the land-use decision. If the party appealing is not the applicant, a stay shall be granted unless the officer or body from whom the appeal is taken certifies in writing to the appeals board that a stay in the decision or development thereunder would cause immediate and irreparable harm to the appellant with no comparable immediate and irreparable harm to the applicant or imminent peril to life or property. If such a certification is filed, there shall be no stay other than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the [name of court] on due cause shown and with notice to the officer or body from whom the appeal is taken.
(4) The appeals board shall set the time and place at which it will consider the appeal, which shall be no more than [20,30 or 40] days from the time the appeal was filed. The appeals board shall give at least [10] days notice of the appeal hearing to the officer or body from which the appeal was taken and to the parties to the appeal.
(5) (a) The appeals board shall hold a hearing on the record in a record appeal unless it decides that additional evidence is necessary to supplement the record. As part of its development permit review process, the legislative body shall adopt rules under which the appeals board may hear arguments on the record by the parties to the record appeal. The appeal proceeding shall be limited to the grounds raised in the notice of appeal.
(b) 1. An appeals board shall issue a written decision after the record hearing in which it may remand, reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify a land-use decision from which an appeal is taken, and shall have the authority in making such decision to exercise all the powers of the officer or body from which the appeal is taken, insofar as they concern the issues on appeal. A tie vote is an affirmation of the decision from which the appeal was taken.
2. The appeals board shall not make findings of fact, unless the board has taken evidence supplementing the record on appeal, in which case it shall make findings of fact based on this evidence and shall make a decision based on such findings as required by Section 207(9).
(6) In an appeal from an administrative review, the appeals board shall hold a record hearing and make a decision as provided in Section 207.
(7) The appeals board shall mail a notice of any decision to the parties to the appeal and to the [local planning agency or code enforcement officer] of the local government within [30] days of the commencement of the hearing.
(8) The appeals board shall keep written minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each appeal or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating that fact, and shall keep records of its official actions in its office.
210 Time Limits on Land-Use Decisions
(1) If a local government fails to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove a development permit application within [Option A: [90, 120, or 180] days from the time it makes a written determination that a development permit application is complete] [Option B: the time period specified for that development permit under Section 201(2)(d)], then
(a) the local government shall refund to the applicant any development permit application fee paid to the local government pursuant to Section 211; and
(b) the applicant shall have a cause of action, in the nature of mandamus, in the [name of court] in order to compel the local government to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the development permit application; unless within that period the local government has identified in writing some specific land development regulation provision with which the application does not comply, and that prohibits the development of the property.
(2) The local government, and the applicant for a development permit, may mutually agree to an extension of the time limits for a decision specified in paragraph (1).
(3) The time limits for decision specified in this Section do not run during any period:
(a) not to exceed [30] days, in which a local government requests additional studies or information concerning a development permit application; or
(b) in which the local government is unable to act upon development permit applications due to circumstances beyond the local government's control, including a reasonable period for resubmission of development permit applications and related materials destroyed, damaged, or otherwise rendered unusable.
211 Fees
A local government may charge such fees as are necessary to carry out the responsibilities imposed by Sections 201 through 210. It shall base such fees on the actual or average costs of review and processing of development permit applications and appeals from decisions on development permit applications, and may adopt different schedules of fees for different categories of development reviews and appeals.
