County land use officials have started accepting applications from builders, environmentalists, property owners, planning or sponsor group members, and planning or land-use consultants who want to be part of a new citizen review committee to help improve the County’s land use permitting process.
County Supervisors established the “Land Development Performance Review Committee” earlier this month and are expected to appoint the group’s seven members this fall.
Applications can be found on the current Department of Planning and Land Use’s website and returned to the County Land Use and Environment Group (LUEG) by mail — care of Megan Jones, LUEG, County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, Room 212, San Diego, Ca., 92101-24701 — or by email at Megan.Jones@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Bill Horn will nominate two of the committee’s seven members, choosing one member apiece from their respective community advisory planning groups.
The remaining five members will be appointed from the pool of qualified applicants who submit applications to LUEG.
The committee will report to the Board of Supervisors. It will work with County planners and engineers to develop ways to measure the County’s land-use performance that show whether improvements are working to make the permitting process faster and less expensive without compromising the quality of land-use review.
The actual makeup of the committee will be:
- One member from the building/engineering industry.
- One member from the environmental community
- Two members, one apiece, from the community advisory planning groups of the County’s two largest districts — Jacob and Horn’s second and fifth districts.
- A person who owns property in the unincorporated county.
- A developer whose projects are in the unincorporated county.
- A planning and/or land-use consultant, or technical expert in a related field, who has worked on projects in both the unincorporated county and elsewhere.
The committee will work with the County’s re-organized land use department — Planning and Development Services — which is expected to open its doors to the public in new Kearny Mesa offices Tuesday, Sept. 25.
LUEG officials said they are looking for qualified applicants who “are interested in providing the new department with constructive feedback and support to ensure we are the best we can be, while being consistent and transparent.”
