Section 17.06.070 Development Review Committee (DRC) means the assembly of the Building Official, Fire Marshal, Director of Community Development, Director of Public Works, Chief of Police and Fire Chief, and any other person having a statutory or contractual authority to make decisions on development permit applications, for the purpose of joint review and decisionmaking related to specific development permit applications.
Section 17.09.070 Development Review Committee (DRC)
A. The intent of the Development Review Committee (DRC) is to streamline and simplify the application process. If a specific proposal requires a complex permit system review after application, the DRC shall conduct such a review and notify the applicant using step by step instructions of what is required. The DRC shall review all applications to determine that all necessary permits have been obtained from those Federal, State or Local governmental agencies from which prior approval is required.
B. The DRC shall consist of the Building Official, Fire Marshal, Director of Community Development, Director of Public Works, Chief of Policeand Fire Chief, and any other position having a statutory or contractual authority to make decisions on development permit applications, for the purpose of joint review and decisionmaking related to specific development permit applications.
C. The DRC shall meet at a regular time and place specified by the Administrator. Any such meeting may be cancelled by the Administrator for cause (e.g. holiday), and all agenda items will be carried over to the next regular meeting.
D. The Community Development Manager will compile an agenda for each meeting. The agenda and all pertinent information will be provided to the standing members of the DRC at least 2 days prior to a meeting. There will be exceptions to this depending on the applications. The agenda shall consist of all development applications received by the Community Development Department prior to the close of business the third day preceding the DRC meeting. All applications received by any other city department shall be submitted to the DRC at the first meeting after their receipt and added to the agenda, excepting those applications excluded by DRC policy. Any member of the DRC may submit an application for review. Such application would normally be reviewed with comments and recommendations at the next subsequent meeting of the DRC if it is of a complex nature, but simple issues should be conditioned and resolved in a timely manner.
E. The DRC is an administrative committee comprised of the members of the departments who are responsible for issuance of a variety of permits and licenses, and enforcement of numerous federal, state, and local codes and ordinances. Because of this structure, the DRC may suggest the holding of permit approval until further information can be acquired, or may suggest the denial of an application. The final decision rests with the member of the responsible department having the statutory authority to issue permits or licenses, or enforce federal, state, or local codes and ordinances.
F. Any conditions of approval made by the member of the responsible department must be stated and conveyed to the applicant in statutory and definitive terms. The terms 'shall', 'must', or 'will' must be included in any conditioning statement. The terms 'should' or 'may' will not be considered mandatory in any approval process, and will generally suggest or recommend alternatives to the proposal as submitted. Any conditions applied to any permit or license approved by any department are the responsibility of that department for enforcement. A building permit may contain conditioning statements for the Fire Marshal, for example, but the Fire Marshal is responsible for enforcing them under the Fire Marshal's statutory authority. Typically, the only time that a permit from one department will contain conditions of another department is when the conditioning department does not have a permitting process, but does have requirements relevant to the proposal. At the DRC meeting, the appropriate conditions on the appropriate permit shall be determined.
G. Nothing which is accomplished at any DRC meeting shall preclude any department from independent permitting, approval or enforcement activities within their statutory authority. In the event that any department desires to condition any permit, but neglects to do so at an DRC meeting, that department may independently pursue any appropriate method of obtaining compliance with the regulations of the city.
H. The plan review process is designed to be a comprehensive analysis of a development proposal to determine whether or not the development, if constructed or implemented, will comply with the city's regulations. When a plan or blueprint is submitted, it must be approved as presented, conditioned in some manner based on a specific regulation or denied because of non-compliance. The DRC may need to refer to a set of standards or performance criteria, but generally must analyze the drawings and tell the applicant specifically what corrections need to be made in order to comply. The DRC will not design the project, but only require changes to the submitted proposal. In cases where the information is missing or unclear on the drawing or print, the DRC may then refer to some standard or criteria, or dictate exactly what must be done as a conditioning statement.
I. The Police Department & the Fire Department issue fire code permits and parking permits; the Public Works Department issues permits for clearing, filling, grading, right-of-way, utility installation and various other approvals; the Community Development Department issues permits for building, zoning (land use), flood hazard zone, Shorelines Management Act, SEPA approvals and various other permits and approvals. Each of these permitting systems has been designed to address specific or unique issues related to any development proposal and is administered by the department having the related expertise. Any development proposal may be exempt from any of these permit systems, or may be under the jurisdiction of all of them.
J. It is the responsibility of the DRC to determine which permit system an applicant is exempt from and so document using the appropriate method of the applicable department, and which permit or approval system must be applied to the proposal. Some permitting systems such as SEPA and SMA require that state forms be used. 769-B
