Seaside planning commission recommends streamlining Campus Town review, dropping peer review for non-design projects

The Seaside Planning Commission voted to recommend a specific-plan amendment that would change how development applications in the Campus Town area are reviewed and posted. The amendment, SBA 25-2025-002, would remove the requirement for outside peer review on projects that do not include architectural or design components (for example, plot plans), combine the completeness and conformance review steps, require posting of ministerial decisions in planning commission agendas (as a public-notification step that triggers appeal periods), and permit digital-only submittals.

A staff member said the change is aimed at streamlining procedural steps and reducing duplicative reviews. "Once an original design has been peer reviewed, we would not require every single unit using that same design to be peer reviewed by an outside architect again," the staff member explained, adding that plot plans and other ministerial filings add time and cost without substantive value when the design is already approved.

Commissioners and a public commenter asked whether posting ministerial decisions in the planning commission agenda would lock commissioners out of review. The staff member clarified that most items in the Campus Town plan are ministerial and "there was no public review at the zoning-administrator hearing, and there still would not be at the planning commission," but posting in the commission agenda creates the notice that begins the appeal period for administrative decisions.

The commission moved, seconded and approved a resolution recommending City Council approval of the specific-plan amendment; no opposing votes were recorded.

What happens next: The commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for final action. If the council approves the amendment, the planning department will implement the updated submission and notification procedures for Campus Town applications.