by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
By a vote of 6-1, with Commissioner Lyman Welch voting “no,” the Planning Commission at its March 25, 2025, meeting passed a resolution recommending to City Council an amendment to the Land Development Code granting authorization to allow staff to approve specified conditional use permit applications as a short-form process to automatically sunset on December 31, 2025. There will be a public notice of the filing of the application mailed to property owners of any lands abutting or within 300 feet of the site at least 14 days prior to the issuance of a conditional use permit.
This effort grew out of the Joint Workshop with City Council and Planning Commission with a desire to expedite permit processing for certain applications. The Planning Department staff offered a recommendation to authorize short-form applications for all conditional uses with a sunset provision effective on December 31, 2025, except for five conditional uses that remain under the authorization of City Council. The same provision for public notice applies as well as the condition that if a member of the public provides comment in opposition to the permit application, it will be referred to the Planning Commission for a public hearing.
The Planning Commission unanimously voted on March 4 to move forward, but not in every instance. At the March 25 meeting, they went on the approve only: (a) docks, boat davits, boat lifts, and mooring pilings; (b) alternative shoreline stabilization projects; and (c) formula retail stores. Seawalls as accessory structures had been approved March 4 but was removed in the final resolution, with Commissioner Welch stating that seawalls as accessory structures are not resilient.
Leave a Comment