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Planners propose administrative variance procedure to speed minor approvals
Summary
Clatsop County staff proposed a new Type 2 administrative variance process for small dimensional variances (with public notice and a proposed $500 fee) and a separate modification-to-approval procedure so applicants need not refile full applications to change a condition.
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.
