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File Number: 18-164 <br />deciding authority. <br /> <br />In San Leandro, the Planning Commission (PC) primarily serves as a recommending body <br />focused on long-range planning and complex applications. The PC makes recommendations to <br />the City Council on Planned Developments, Rezoning, General Plan Amendments, and Tentative <br />Tract Maps. With the rare exception of a denied appeal (San Leandro Zoning Code Section <br />5-2810), the City Council is the final deciding authority on all applications heard by the PC. <br /> <br />San Leandro is one of the few remaining cities in the State of California to have both a PC and a <br />BZA. Of the other cities in California, only Berkeley, Modesto, Bakersfield, Norco, and Perris are <br />known to have a similar arrangement. Alameda County and Sonoma County are the only counties <br />known to have a separate PC and BZA. The cities of Merced, West Sacramento, Folsom, and <br />Beverly Hills and Santa Clara County have merged their BZAs into their PCs. <br />Analysis <br />There are number of practical and cost-saving benefits to merging the PC and BZA. Preparing <br />hearing notices, mailings, and agenda packets for separate meetings requires a substantial <br />amount of staff time. Merging the two would require the PC to serve as both a recommending and <br />deciding body. <br /> <br />Approval Streamlining <br /> <br />There are currently a number of potential situations where a project application could be required <br />to go before the BZA, PC and City Council for approval. For example, if an applicant wishes to <br />develop a new condominium project, the applicant’s Site Plan Review and Conditional Use <br />Permit would need to be approved by the BZA, but the Tentative Tract Map would need a <br />recommendation by the Planning Commission with final approval by the City Council. This <br />process adds about two extra months to the application processing timeline because public <br />hearings are required before three different deciding bodies. In these situations, staff is required <br />to prepare three different sets of hearing notices, staff reports, findings, resolutions, and <br />conditions of approval. A shortened timeframe and reduced uncertainty through the approval <br />process can be a significant factor in making San Leandro a desirable location for developers <br />interested in constructing projects that are consistent with the City’s planning goals. <br />Fewer Meetings <br /> <br />The workload between the PC and BZA is typically uneven. In recent years, the BZA has had two <br />or three agenda items scheduled for each hearing while the PC has only one item. In the past five <br />years, the PC has canceled half of its regularly scheduled public hearings for lack of items, while <br />the BZA has canceled approximately 43% of its meetings. Both bodies have scheduled about the <br />same number of special meetings over the past five years. Merging the two bodies would not <br />require scheduling two hearings each month. Holding one meeting per month would reduce comp <br />time and overtime hours for staff, providing cost savings for the City and applicants. <br />Administrative Staff Resources <br /> <br />Page 2 City of San Leandro Printed on 5/30/2018 <br />225