8.3.C Application Submittal and Handling | Sedona Land Development Code

C. Application Submittal and Handling

a. Unless expressly stated otherwise in this Code, a development application shall be submitted by:

1. The owner, contract purchaser, or any other person having a recognized property interest in the land on which development is proposed; or

2. A person authorized to submit the application on behalf of the owner, contract purchaser, or other person having a recognized property interest in the land, as evidenced by a letter or document signed by the owner, contract purchaser, or other person.

b. If there are multiple owners, contract purchasers, or other persons authorized to submit the application, all such persons shall sign the application or a letter or document consenting to the application.

c. No application shall be submitted prior to attending a pre-application meeting, if required per Table 8.1, Summary Table of Review Procedures.

d. Applications will not be accepted from property owners/applicants who are:

1. In violation of, or not in compliance with, either this Code, Sedona City Code or Arizona Revised Statutes, unless, through the application and permitting process, the owner/applicant attempts to resolve any and all violations or compliance issues or is part of a plan of action, accepted by the Director, to do so; or

2. Have been determined by the City to owe delinquent transaction privilege taxes or any other delinquent fees payable to the City pursuant to this Code or City Code, unless the owner/applicant has entered into a written payment agreement approved by the City relating to payment of any and all outstanding obligations and is current in making any and all payments under the terms of such an agreement.

a. The application shall be submitted to the Director on a form established by the Director. The applicant bears the burden of demonstrating compliance with application requirements.

b. Some of the requirements listed below will not apply to a given proposal or piece of property; in those instances, the Director may waive those requirements.

c. The information requested by this Code, and as required by other applicable codes and ordinances, may be combined into one or more maps or plans; provided, that the combined maps or plans adequately and legibly depict the required information.

d. If required information has previously been submitted to the City and formed the basis of an approved development project, the same information need not be submitted again (for example, an applicant for a single-family residential building permit is not required to submit information previously submitted in conjunction with the subdivision plat approval).

e. After approval of any development plan, any change to the approved plan shall be resubmitted for a new approval prior to proceeding with the changed portion of the development plan.

The Director may waive certain submittal requirements in order to reduce the burden on the applicant and to tailor the requirements to the information necessary to review a particular application. The Director may waive such requirements upon finding that the projected size, complexity, anticipated impacts, or other factors associated with the proposed development clearly, in his or her opinion, support such waiver.

a. Application fees shall be paid at the time of submittal according to the type of application on the development review fee schedule. The fee schedule shall be established by resolution of the City Council and reviewed periodically.

b. In the event the Director determines that it is necessary to utilize the services of a consultant not on staff, the Director may impose additional fees associated with such outside consultant. The Director shall inform the applicant of the necessity to utilize the services of a consultant and the applicant may choose whether or not to proceed with the application.

The Director shall establish a review timeline for development applications and shall include that information in the Administrative Manual. The Director may amend the timeline to ensure effective and efficient review under this Code.

The Director shall determine whether the application is complete or incomplete within five business days of submittal. A complete application shall be processed according to the procedures in this article. An incomplete application shall not be processed or reviewed. Any deficiencies noted by the Director shall be addressed by the applicant prior to resubmitting the application.

If an application has not been resubmitted to address staff-noted deficiencies within three months, such application shall be deemed abandoned and all fees forfeited. The applicant may request three additional months to address staff-noted deficiencies. Abandoned applications shall require a new pre-application meeting and may be subject to additional fees.

An applicant may revise an application after receiving notice of compliance deficiencies following staff review, or on requesting and receiving permission from an advisory or decision-making body after that body has reviewed, but not yet taken action on, the application. Revisions shall be limited to changes that directly respond to specific requests or suggestions made by staff or the advisory or decision-making body, as long as they constitute only minor additions, deletions, or corrections and do not include significant substantive changes to the development proposed in the application, as determined by the Director. All other application revisions shall be processed as a new application.

a. After an application has been accepted, the applicant may withdraw the application at any time by submitting a letter of withdrawal to the Director.

b. An applicant is not entitled to a refund of application fees for withdrawn applications. However, the Director may refund fees not expended during the first round of staff review if the application is withdrawn prior to preparation of any official written comments.

a. Where possible without creating an undue administrative burden on the City’s decision-making bodies and staff, this Code intends to accommodate the simultaneous processing of applications for different permits and approvals that may be required for the same development project in order to expedite the overall review process.

b. Review and decision-making bodies considering applications submitted simultaneously shall render separate recommendations and decisions on each application based on the specific standards applicable to each approval.

c. Examples of concurrent filing and processing of applications include, but are not limited to:

1. Development review and conditional use permit;

2. Development review and rezoning;

3. Conditional use permit and rezoning; and

4. Rezoning and subdivision.

d. Some forms of approval depend on the applicant having previously received another form of approval, or require the applicant to take particular action within some time period following the approval in order to avoid having the approval lapse. Therefore, even though this Code intends to accommodate simultaneous processing, applicants should note that each of the permits and approvals set forth in this Code has its own timing and review sequence, and so as a result, concurrent filings are not guaranteed to expedite the respective timing and review sequences of any particular permit or approval herein.