Burbank Municipal Code Div. 12 Streamlined Ministerial

10-1-19300: PURPOSE AND INTENT:

A. PURPOSE.

The City Council declares and finds all the following:

The California Legislature finds and declares that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern.
Pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 35 and Assembly Bill (AB) 2011, a development proponent may submit an application for a development that is subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval process provided by California Government Code Sections 65913.4 and 65912.100 et seq., and not be subject to a conditional use permit or any other discretionary local government review or approval.
The City shall undertake ministerial review as provided for in SB 35 and AB 2011 (California Government Code Sections 65913.4, 65912.114, and 65912.124, as may be amended), and any other project for which State law requires streamlined ministerial review.

B. INTENT.

The intent of this Division is, to the extent permissible by law, establish a streamlined ministerial review process for the City’s final review and approval of projects requiring streamlined ministerial review, including SB 35 and AB 2011 applications pursuant to the requirements in California Government Code Sections 65913.4 and 65912.100 et seq. [Added by Ord. No. 22-3,964, eff. 2/4/22; amended by Ord. No. 24-4,023, eff. 1/17/25; 24-4,020; 23-3,995; 23-3,993.]

10-1-19301: DEFINITIONS:

All terms not defined below shall, unless their context suggests otherwise, be interpreted in accordance with the definition established in Government Code sections 65913.4 and 65912.100 et seq., and the Guidelines published by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (referred to herein as the Guidelines).

“Application” means a submission requesting Streamlined Ministerial Approval pursuant to Government Code section 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., or any other state law requiring streamlined ministerial review, and the related Guidelines, which contain information as required by applicable State and local law, as well as applicable Guidelines.

“Ministerial approval” means approval of a project that complies with requirements and guidelines as set forth in Government Code Sections 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., or other state law requiring streamlined ministerial approval that is non-discretionary and cannot require a conditional use permit or other discretionary local government review or approval.

“Ministerial processing” means a process for development approval involving little or no personal judgment by the public official as to the wisdom or manner of carrying out the project. The public official merely ensures that the proposed development meets all the “objective zoning standards,” “objective subdivision standards,” and “objective design review standards” in effect at the time that the application is submitted to the local government but uses no special discretion or judgment in reaching a decision.

“Objective zoning standard,” “objective subdivision standard,” and “objective design review standard” means standards that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the applicant or development proponent and the public official prior to submittal, and includes only such standards as are published and adopted by ordinance or resolution by a local jurisdiction before submission of a development application. [Added by Ord. No. 22-3,964, eff. 2/4/22; amended by Ord. No. 24-4,023, eff. 1/17/25; 24-4,020; 23-3,995; 23-3,993.]

10-1-19302: STREAMLINED MINISTERIAL APPROVAL PROCESS:

Development projects submitted pursuant to California Government Code Section 65913.4 shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Subsection (b) of Section 65913.4, and development projects submitted pursuant to California Government Code Section 65912.100 et seq. shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Government Code Sections 65912.114 and 65912.124, as such procedures may be amended from time to time, and as further set forth in this Division 12.

A. NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUBMIT A SB 35 APPLICATION

(1) The development proponent shall submit to the local government a notice of its intent to submit an application. The notice of intent (NOI) shall be in the form of a preliminary application that includes all of the information described in Section 65941.1.

(2) Upon receipt of a NOI, the Community Development Director shall engage in a scoping consultation regarding the proposed development with any California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic area of the proposed development as required by Section 65913.4(b), as may be amended from time to time.

(3) After completing the NOI to submit an application for streamlined ministerial approval process (also referred to as SB 35 processing) and Tribal Consultation process pursuant to Government Code Section 65913.4, subsection (b), an applicant may submit an application for streamlined ministerial approval processing to the City. The applicant must submit an SB 35 streamlined ministerial approval process application demonstrating the proposed project’s eligibility under California Government Code Section 65913.4. Once an application is submitted, the process set forth in subsections B-D, below, shall be followed.

B. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR DETERMINATIONS

(1) The Community Development Director shall review the applications submitted pursuant to California Government Code Sections 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., or other State requirement for streamlined ministerial review, as applicable, and determine if a project is consistent with or conflicts with any of the objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design review standards applicable to the project. The Community Development Director’s consistency review of the project shall be completed within 60 days of an application submittal for projects of 150 or fewer units, and 90 days for projects consisting of more than 150 units, unless otherwise provided by applicable State law.

(2) If the City provides written comments as to any conflicts in the objective standards, or requests additional information to make such a determination, then the Community Development Director’s review of the project shall be completed within 30 days of the resubmittal of a revised development application in response to such written notice, unless otherwise provided by applicable State law. The City’s written comments shall specify the standard or standards with which the development conflicts and shall provide an explanation for the reason or reasons the development conflicts with that standard or standards, within the timeframe specified.

(3) If the application can be brought into compliance with minor changes to the proposal, the City, in lieu of making detailed findings, will allow the applicant to correct any deficiencies within the timeframes noted subsection B(2) above.

(4) If the City fails to provide the required documentation determining consistency within these timeframes, the development shall be deemed to satisfy the City’s objective planning standards and shall be deemed consistent.

(5) As required by State law, upon the Community Development Director’s determination that a project is consistent with all applicable objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design review standards, the Project shall be approved in accordance with any applicable timelines as may be required by applicable State law. The Community Development Director’s consistency determination and related project approval shall be final and may not be administratively appealed under the provisions of the Burbank Municipal Code.

(6) The Community Development Director’s ministerial review process shall not in any way inhibit, chill or preclude the ministerial approval of the project if it is in compliance with criteria specified in Government Code Sections 65913.4 and 65912.100 et seq. or other applicable state law requiring streamlined ministerial review, and consistent with the objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design review standards applicable to the project.

C. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION AND PAYMENT OF FEES

Application for development projects submitted pursuant to California Government Code Sections 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., and other projects requiring streamlined ministerial review shall be made as follows:

On forms furnished by the Community Development Director.
Signed by the owner of the property or his duly authorized agent and sworn to by declaration or before a notary public.
Filed with the Community Development Director.
Submitted with the City SB 35, AB 2011, or other applicable Checklist Application as may be amended from time to time to comply with changes to applicable State law.
Submitted with a payment of applications fees based on the City adopted fee schedule.
If required by applicable state or local objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, or objective design review standards, the application must be submitted with a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) for sites identified by the Burbank Fire Department (the Fire Marshal) as having a history of hazardous materials use or storage and any associated follow-up environmental site assessment. Developer shall be responsible for any cost related to third party review of Phase I ESA.
If required by applicable state or local objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, or objective design review standards, when the Phase 1 ESA recommends further study including preparation of a Phase II ESA or any additional environmental site assessments, the developer shall submit the additional studies as a part of the application. The developer shall be responsible for any and all cost related to third party review of additional environmental documents.

D. MODIFICATION

Applicant can request modification of approval after ministerial review and approval but prior to issuance of final building permit pursuant to California Government Code Section 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., or other applicable State law. The modification shall be reviewed by the Community Development Director to confirm compliance with California Government Code Section 65913.4, 65912.100 et seq., or other applicable State law. [Added by Ord. No. 22-3,964, eff. 2/4/22; amended by Ord. No. 24-4,023, eff. 1/17/25; 24-4,020; 23-3,995; 23-3,993.]

10-1-19303: CHANGES TO STATE LAW:

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, any future amendments to California Government Code Sections 65913.4 and/or 65912.100 et seq. or the Guidelines that conflict with any provision of this Division 12 shall supersede the conflicting provision in Division 12. [Added by Ord. No. 22-3,964, eff. 2/4/22; amended by Ord. No. 24-4,023, eff. 1/17/25; 24-4,020; 23-3,995; 23-3,993.]