Planning staff told commissioners that the draft ordinance would let some applicants request administrative extensions for conditional-use approvals instead of returning to the Board of Adjustment for a full rehearing. Under current practice, staff said, a request for an extension requires reapplying to the BOA and holding a public hearing. The change is intended to streamline cases where delay is for reasons outside the applicant’s control.

Staff described the current burden: extension requests now follow the same procedure as an original application, including public notice and a BOA hearing. That has required full hearings for relatively straightforward delays, such as supply-chain problems, contractor issues, or waiting for a third-party permit (staff cited the Corps of Engineers as an example of an outside delay). Planning staff recommended an administrative path for extensions when the project shows progress and no new policy issues arise.

Commissioners asked whether the BOA had been consulted. Staff said the board meets next week and that planners will present the proposal there; staff will return with the BOA’s view before the county’s public hearing on the broader ordinance. Staff also noted that in recent cases the BOA approved the extension requests presented to it: one extension was granted last month and another hearing is on the BOA calendar for next month.

Direction given: planners will bring the administrative-extension proposal to the Board of Adjustment for feedback at its next meeting and incorporate the BOA’s recommendation into the clean ordinance package for the Sept. 15 public hearing.