Planners propose administrative variance procedure to speed minor approvals

Community Development Director Gail Henrickson proposed creating an administrative‑variance procedure (Type 2) to handle minor dimensional variances without the higher cost and time of a Type 3 hearings officer process. "We would propose an administrative variance procedure. It would be Type 2... so it's not a public hearing, but there is still public notice," Henrickson said.

Under the proposed approach, thresholds would limit what can be processed administratively; lot‑size variances (set by state statute) and oceanfront building‑height variances would be excluded and continue to require a full hearings‑officer procedure. Henrickson said the administrative route would include public notice to nearby property owners and a 10‑day comment period, and it would retain substantive criteria so decisions could not be granted merely for convenience.

Henrickson proposed a $500 application fee for the administrative variance, contrasting it with the current $2,000 hearings‑officer fee for Type 3 matters. She said that the administrative process should shorten the timeline from a typical three‑month hearings cycle to roughly a month once a complete application is submitted. The staff package also recommends establishing an explicit code process to modify existing approvals without requiring applicants to submit a full new application and fee when a limited change is needed (for instance, an ODOT condition revision).

Next steps: staff will hold a work session with the Board of Commissioners on Jan. 28, and, if supported, will bring the proposal to the Planning Commission for a public hearing in February.