Within 30 days of an application being received, the Director will evaluate the application for completeness according to subsections (A) through (E) below.
(A) 
An application must be submitted to the Director as provided in SDC 5.1.215, 5.1.220, and 5.1.225.
(B) 
An application will be evaluated for completeness with applicable application submittal standards of SDC 5.1.220.
(C) 
Supplementation of Application Within First 30 Days of Submittal. An applicant may not submit any supplemental information for an application within the first 30 days following acceptance of the application or until the application has been deemed complete, whichever is first, except when requested according to subsection (E) below, or otherwise authorized by the Director. Any supplemental information submitted by an applicant in violation of this section will not be considered in determining whether the application is complete and will be returned to the applicant.
(D) 
Complete Application. An application will be deemed complete if the application submittal standards have been fully satisfied upon initial filing or through the procedures set forth in subsection (E)(1)-(3) below. When the Director deems the application complete, the Director will notify the applicant in writing. If the Director has not issued in writing a completeness determination within 30 days from the date the application is received by the Director, the application is automatically deemed complete on the 31st day after it was received.
(E) 
Incomplete Application. Except as otherwise provided for through a Completeness Check Meeting, if a Type 2 or Type 3 application is incomplete, the City must notify the applicant in writing of exactly what information is missing within 30 days of receipt of the application and allow the applicant to submit the missing information. The application will be deemed complete for the purpose of SDC 5.1.410(1) upon receipt by the Director of:
(1) 
All of the missing information;
(2) 
Some of the missing information and written notice from the applicant that no other information will be provided; or
(3) 
Written notice from the applicant that none of the missing information will be provided.
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(A) 
120-Day Time Limit.
(1) 
Except as provided in subsections (B) through (D) of this section, the City must take final action on a Type 2 or Type 3 application, including resolution of all local appeals, within 120 days after the application is deemed complete according to SDC 5.1.405.
(2) 
Applications for the following determinations or approvals are exempt from the 120-day time limit established by this section:
(a) 
A Type 2 or Type 3 application submitted concurrently with a comprehensive plan amendment;
(b) 
Revocation proceedings;
(c) 
Declaratory rulings;
(d) 
Consideration of remanded applications; and
(e) 
Adoption and modification of Master plans.
(B) 
100-Day Time Limit.
(1) 
Except as provided in subsections (C) and (D) of this section, the City must take final action on a qualifying application, including resolution of all local appeals, within 100 days after the application is deemed complete according to SDC 5.1.405.
(2) 
Definitions. For the purposes of this section only, the following definitions apply:
“Affordable housing”
means housing that is affordable to households with incomes equal to or less than 60 percent of the median family income for the county in which the development is built or for the state, whichever is greater.
“Multifamily residential building”
means a building in which 3 or more residential units each have space for eating, living and sleeping and permanent provisions for cooking and sanitation.
(3) 
An application qualifies for a final action within 100 days under this subsection if:
(a) 
The application is for development of a multifamily residential building containing 5 or more residential units within the urban growth boundary;
(b) 
At least 50 percent of the residential units included in the development will be sold or rented as affordable housing; and
(c) 
The development is subject to a covenant appurtenant that restricts the owner and each successive owner of the development or a residential unit within the development from selling or renting any residential unit described in paragraph (b) of this subsection as housing that is not affordable housing for a period of 60 years from the date of the certificate of occupancy.
(C) 
Void Application. On the 181st day after first being submitted, an incomplete application is void if the applicant has been notified of missing information and the application has not been deemed complete according to SDC 5.1.405(E)(1) through (3).
(D) 
Extension. The 120-day time limit in subsection (A) or the 100-day time limit in subsection (B) may be extended for a specified period of time at the written request of the applicant. The total of all extensions cannot exceed 245 days.
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(A) 
A Type 2 application involves the Director’s interpretation and exercise of discretion when evaluating approval standards. Uses or development evaluated through this process are uses that are conditionally permitted or allowed after Director review that may require the imposition of conditions of approval to ensure compliance with development and approval standards.
(B) 
A Type 2 decision is made by the Director after public notice, but without a public hearing, unless appealed. A Type 2 application is reviewed according to the procedures below, unless the Director determines that the application should be reviewed as a Type 3 decision. A Type 2 decision may be appealed according to SDC 5.1.800.
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(A) 
A Type 3 quasi-judicial application involves discretion but implement established policy. A request will generally be considered a quasi-judicial decision if it involves the following factors:
(1) 
The process is bound to result in a decision;
(2) 
The decision is bound to apply preexisting criteria to concrete facts; and
(3) 
The action is customarily directed at a closely circumscribed factual situation or small number of persons.
Although no factor is considered determinative and each must be weighed, the more definitively these factors are answered affirmatively, the more it will be considered a quasi-judicial decision.
(B) 
A Type 3 decision is made by the following Hearings Authority after a public hearing following the quasi-judicial hearings procedures of SDC 5.1.500:
(1) 
A Type 3 application that does not require adoption of an ordinance and that involve property entirely within city limits are made by the Planning Commission.
(2) 
A Type 3 application that involves property entirely or partially outside of city limits and entirely within the Springfield Urban Growth Boundary are made by the Hearings Officer.
(3) 
The City Council is the sole approval authority for annexations and vacations of plats and public rights-of-way.
(4) 
The City Council is the final decision maker in a Type 3 development application that require the adoption of an ordinance and are within city limits, including, but not limited to, site-specific comprehensive plan or refinement plan amendments. Except for vacations and annexations, the Planning Commission will conduct a quasi-judicial public hearing and make a recommendation to the City Council to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application.
(5) 
The City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners are the final decision-makers for a Type 3 development application that requires adoption of an ordinance and are entirely or partially outside city limits but within the Springfield Urban Growth Boundary, including but not limited to site-specific comprehensive plan or refinement plan amendments, according to the procedures in SDC 5.14.130.
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(A) 
Notice of a Type 2 application must be mailed at least 14 days prior to the issuance of a decision to persons listed below. Notice of a Type 3 application must be mailed at least 20 days before the hearing, or if more than 1 hearing is provided, at least 10 days before the first hearing. The applicant is responsible for the cost (i.e., mailing, etc.) of any notice. The notice must include all the applicable information specified under SDC 5.1.430. Written notice must be sent by mail to the following persons:
(1) 
The applicant.
(2) 
Owners of record of property, as shown on the most recent property tax assessment roll, located within 300 feet of the property that is the subject of the notice.
(3) 
The designated land use chair(s) of a neighborhood association recognized by the City of Springfield, where any property within the notice area specified in subsection (A)(2) above is within the boundaries of a recognized neighborhood association.
(B) 
The notice requirements of this section will be deemed met when the Director can provide an affidavit or other certification that such notice was given.
(C) 
The Director may increase the minimum notice area up to 400 feet beyond what is otherwise required under subsection (A)(2) above, at their sole discretion.
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All required mailed notices must contain the following:
(A) 
A map locating the subject property;
(B) 
Identification of the application by City case number;
(C) 
Identification of the subject property by reference to the Lane County assessment map and tax lot number, and the property address/location;
(D) 
Identification of the property owner and applicant;
(E) 
An explanation of the nature of the application and the proposed use or uses that could be authorized by the decision;
(F) 
The applicable approval criteria from this code or from an applicable comprehensive plan, functional plan, or refinement plan that applies to the decision;
(G) 
The name and phone number of the assigned planner;
(H) 
If the application proposes a change to a zoning map, refinement plan map, or comprehensive plan map, a copy of the map that is to be altered;
(I) 
A statement that the application, all documents and evidence relied upon by the applicant, and the applicable standards are available for inspection at no cost and that copies will be provided at reasonable cost;
(J) 
The date, time, and location of any hearing or date by which written comments must be received;
(K) 
A statement that any person may comment in writing and include a general explanation of the requirements for submission of testimony and the procedures for conduct of testimony including, but not limited to, a party’s right to request a continuance or to have the record held open;
(L) 
A statement briefly summarizing the local decision-making process for the particular application;
(M) 
For Type 2 applications, a statement that issues which may provide the basis for an appeal must be raised in writing prior to the expiration of the comment period, and that issues must be raised with sufficient information to enable the Approval Authority to respond to the issue; and
(N) 
For Type 3 applications, a statement that failure to raise an issue in a hearing, in person or in writing, or failure to provide statements or evidence sufficient to afford the Approval Authority an opportunity to respond to the issue preclude appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals based on that issue.
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Notice of a Type 2 or Type 3 application must be posted on the subject property by the applicant/property owner throughout the duration of the required public comment period. The applicant must post 1 sign, approved by the Director, on the subject property that is located within 10 feet of any abutting public way. Failure of applicant/property owner to maintain posting of the sign throughout the duration of the required public comment period does not invalidate a land use approval.
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(A) 
Notice of a Type 3 application must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Springfield at least 20 days before the hearing, or, if more than 1 hearing is provided, at least 10 days before the first hearing.
(B) 
The published notice must include the time and place of the hearing and contain a statement describing the general subject matter of the ordinance under consideration.
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(A) 
Review and Decision. Upon determination of completeness required by SDC 5.1.405, a Type 2 or 3 application will be reviewed according to the following procedures:
(1) 
Notice of application will be made if required or elected by the Director or applicant, as provided in SDC 5.1.425, 5.1.435, and 5.1.440.
(2) 
Any person may comment in writing on an application within 14 days from the date notice was mailed or a longer period as specified in the notice for a Type 2 application, or until the close of the public record for a Type 3 application.
(3) 
The Director must distribute the application to the Development Review Committee and the Historic Commission for comments as applicable.
(4) 
At the conclusion of the comment period specified by the notice of application, or upon determination of application completeness if notice of application is not required or elected by the Director or applicant, the application and written comments will be reviewed and a written decision prepared.
(5) 
Each decision must include a finding as to when the proposed Type 2 or 3 application was deemed complete and formally accepted as such by the Director.
(6) 
Each decision must include a finding that the property subject to the proposed land use action is a lot of record as that term is defined in this code.
(7) 
Approval or denial of a Type 2 or 3 application must be based upon and accompanied by a written statement that explains the standards considered relevant to the decision, states the facts relied upon in rendering the decision, and explains the justification for the decision based upon the standards and facts set forth.
(8) 
Any portion of an application not addressed in a Approval Authority’s decision is deemed to have been denied.
(9) 
Notice of the Hearings Authority’s decision must be in writing and mailed to all parties within 2 days of the date of the written decision. However, 1 person may be designated by the Approval Authority to be the recipient of the decision for a group, organization, group of petitioners or similar collection of individual participants.
(10) 
If the decision changes an acknowledged comprehensive plan or land use regulation, notice must be provided to the Department of Land Conservation and Development according to ORS 197.615.
(11) 
A Type 2 or 3 decision may be appealed according to the procedures in SDC 5.1.800.
(B) 
Final Decision. A decision on a Type 2 or 3 application is not final until the Approval Authority issues a written decision, the decision or notice of the decision has been mailed, and the appeal period to the next higher Approval Authority within the City has expired.
(C) 
Appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). Appeals of the final City decision by the Hearings Officer or City Council may be appealed to the Land Use Board of Appeals according to ORS 197.830, as further described at SDC 5.1.800.
(D) 
Unless a temporary use permit has been issued, no building permit will be issued until a decision is final. Appeal of a final decision to LUBA does not affect the finality of a decision for purposes of issuing building permits, unless stayed by LUBA or by court order. If an applicant elects at their own discretion to proceed under a land use action with a pending LUBA appeal, they must proceed only if:
(1) 
The applicant accepts each and every risk of loss and damage that may result if the application is reversed or modified or denied upon remand, and further agrees in writing to hold the City, its officers, agents, and employees harmless from such loss and damage.
(2) 
The applicant agrees in writing to restore the site to its original condition if the application for the land use approval is reversed or denied upon remand, or to modify or restore any portions of the site as required by a decision that is modified upon remand.
(3) 
The applicant posts a bond or other form of security acceptable to the Approval Authority in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of restoration of the site to its pre-approval condition.
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(A) 
An applicant may modify an application at any time during the approval process up until the issuance of a Type 2 decision, or the close of the record for a Type 3 decision, subject to the provisions of SDC 5.1.405 and this section.
(B) 
The Approval Authority must not consider any evidence submitted by or on behalf of an applicant that would constitute modification of an application (as that term is defined in SDC 6.1.100, Definitions), unless the applicant submits an application for a modification, pays all required modification fees and agrees in writing to restart the 120-day time limit as of the date the modification is submitted. The 120-day time limit for an application, as modified, may be restarted as many times as there are modifications up to a total of 365 days from the day the application was accepted as complete.
(C) 
The Approval Authority may require that the application be re-noticed and additional hearings be held.
(D) 
Up until the issue of a Type 2 decision or the day a hearing is opened for receipt of oral testimony for a Type 3 decision, the Director has the sole authority to determine whether an applicant’s submittal constitutes a modification. After such time, the Hearings Authority makes any modification determination. For both Type 2 and Type 3 decisions, the Approval Authority’s determination on whether a submittal constitutes a modification is appealable only to LUBA and is appealable only after a final decision is entered by the City on an application.
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Any change initiated by an individual that includes a plan amendment and zone change for specific real property may be accompanied by the appropriate applications for a specific development proposal. Approval of such a plan amendment and zone change accompanied by a specific development proposal may be conditioned upon initiation of the development proposal within a specified time period, at the discretion of the Hearings Authority, to ensure no greater intensity of use than that contemplated in the proceeding. Approvals of site-specific plan amendments and zone changes that are not accompanied by applications for a specific development proposal must be based on evaluation of the highest impact uses authorized in the proposed zone.
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