17.62.050 Permit review procedure.
A. Application. A conditional use permit shall be required for all applications for a surface mining operation or land reclamation project, including any reclamation plan and financial assurance. The application for the permit shall be filed with the planning director on forms provided by the director, and shall include all information as necessary to meet city ordinances, CEQA, SMARA and any other information that the director finds necessary to ensure that the project can be adequately evaluated.
B. Authority. The planning commission shall have the authority to grant or deny, subject to appeal to the city council, the following:
1. A conditional use permit to conduct surface mining operation;
2. A reclamation plan;
3. Financial assurance for reclamation of mined lands;
4. Amendments to any term, condition or other consideration regarding a surface mining operation, reclamation plan or financial assurance;
5. An interim management plan as defined in SMARA for idle surface mining operations;
6. Environmental determinations concerning the conditional use permit for surface mining operations;
7. Revocation of the conditional use permit.
C. Review Process. The procedures contained in Chapter 17.64 of this code relating to processing a conditional use permit, including, but not limited to, notice, public hearings, permit rights and restrictions, extensions and appeals shall apply to any project regulated by this chapter.
D. Additional Notice. In addition to the notice required under the conditional use procedure and CEQA, notice shall also be provided as follows:
1. Within thirty days of acceptance of an application as complete, the Planning Director shall notify the State Department of Conservation of the filing of the application.
2. If mining operations are proposed in the one-hundred-year floodplain of any watercourse as shown in Zone A of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and within one mile, upstream or downstream, of any state highway bridge, the planning director shall notify the State Department of Transportation that the application has been received.
3. The above notifications may be combined with any other notice or consultation necessary to meet CEQA requirements.
E. Agency Consultation and Comments. In addition to the consultation and comment period required by city ordinance and CEQA, the State Department of Conservation shall be given thirty days to review and comment on a reclamation plan and forty-five days to review and comment on a financial assurance (PRC Section 2774(d)). The planning commission shall consider all written comments received, if any, from the State Department of Conservation and any other person or agency during the comment period.
F. Required Findings. In addition to any findings required by Chapter 17.64 of this code for conditional use permits, an approval for a surface mining operation, reclamation plan and financial assurance shall include findings that the project complies with the provisions of SMARA and related state regulations.
G. Distribution of Final Decision. In addition to the final decision being distributed to interested persons and/or agencies as may be required by city ordinance and CEQA, a copy of each approved and/or amended conditional use permit for a surface mining operation, reclamation plan and/or financial assurance shall also be forwarded to the State Department of Conservation.
H. Amendments. Amendments to any approved surface mining operation, reclamation plan and/or financial assurance, shall be processed in the same manner as a new application. (Ord. 5020 § 24, 2020; Ord. 3943 § 5, 1999; prior code § 17.75.050)