Preliminary Review Process - Planning
Preliminary Review is a voluntary, fee-based service that is tailored to the applicant's information needs and familiarity with the City's codes, policies, and development review processes. It is intended to be a time-saving process that will benefit you, the prospective applicant. Preliminary Review can also help you reduce the time and money spent revising plans to meet City standards before they go to public noticing or hearing.
Preparation
In filing for Preliminary Review, you are encouraged to provide any information that may be helpful for staff to understand your project concept and the information you need to proceed. Generally, the depth and completeness of staff responses to your specific questions depend on the amount, depth, and accuracy of the information you provide with your request. Complete and detailed information from the prospective applicant often results in better staff analysis, and consequently more thorough feedback.
What do I Submit?
Provide Preliminary Review Exhibits – exhibits are useful in communicating the applicant's project concept to staff. Listed below are examples of exhibits to facilitate the review of your project.
- Existing and Proposed site plans (with current uses, structures, trees and landscaping)
- Conceptual elevations
- Conceptual landscaping modifications
- Photographs of site and surroundings.
- Any other documents that may assist staff to answer the questions you want resolved.
Tip: Photographs are very important to show the context of the surrounding neighborhood. Photos of structures may be numbered to correspond to numbered views on the site plan.
What do I Receive for a Preliminary Review Application?
Staff will provide written feedback to the Preliminary Review Application via email. The email correspondence will identify whether the project is consistent with City requirements and any issues that should be addressed as part of a future Planning Permit submittal. Applicants may request a meeting with the project planner once preliminary review feedback is made available.
How Much Does it Cost?
A minimum $200 deposit is required at the time of the Preliminary Review submittal. The cost is based on an hourly rate established in the Master Fee Schedule. The initial deposit usually covers one hour of staff time and a 30-minute meeting with the project planner.
How Long Does it Take?
A project planner assigned to your project will contact you in approximately two weeks. Please be advised that review time may vary depending upon staff workload and project complexity.
How Long are Preliminary Review Responses Good For?
The Department’s policy is to honor commitments made to prospective applicants in response to a preliminary review. However, a different response may result from a formal application for the same project if, for instance, building codes and laws change, conditions of the surrounding neighborhood change, or more information regarding the project environment becomes available. Since preliminary review responses are based on analyzing a snapshot of design and policy factors that may change over time, it is not realistic to condition their validity on time. Therefore, it is imperative that prospective applicants file formal applications as soon as preliminary review is completed.
Revised August 5, 2019