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The Planning Commission consists of five members, appointed
by the Board of Supervisors, representing each of the supervisorial
districts within the County. Each Commissioner holds office
for a term of four (4) years and/or until the appointment
and qualification of a successor. The Commission considers
and takes action on land use applications including parcel
maps, conditional use permits, variances, site plan reviews,
appeals, etc. The Commission also makes recommendations to
the Board of Supervisors on items such as rezoning, general
plan amendment, text amendment, and subdivision map applications,
where the Board must take the final action.
The Commission typically meets at 6:00 p.m. on the first
Tuesday of each month. If there are a sufficient number of
items scheduled, a second meeting will be held on the third
Tuesday of the month. Meetings are held at the Resource Management Agency (2037 West Cleveland Avenue, Madera) or the Coarsegold Community
Center (35600 Highway 41, Coarsegold). The location of each
meeting is based on where the majority of agenda items are
located.
 Agenda
for Upcoming Meeting
Recent
Minutes
Archived
Minutes
Archived
Staff Reports
Members
Calendar
The Planning Commission takes action (approve, deny, deny
without prejudice, or continue) on the following applications:
General Plan Amendments
The General Plan is the long term blueprint, or constitution,
for land use and development within the County. Nearly all
development proposals which require approval by the Planning
Commission or Board of Supervisors must be found consistent
with the General Plan. Therefore, for example, if a residential
subdivision is proposed on a parcel that is designated in
the plan for agricultural uses, a general plan amendment
must be filed to redesignated the effected area.
State law allows the General Plan to be amended four times
per year. January, April, July, and October have been set
as Planning Commission hearing dates for amendments. The
actions taken by the Planning Commission with regard to
general plan amendments serve as recommendations to the
Board of Supervisors. The Board must take final action to
amend the General Plan.
Rezonings
The zoning ordinance defines what specific land uses are
allowed on a property and what development standards apply.
All development and construction projects must be in compliance
with the zoning ordinance. A change to a parcel’s
zoning designation, referred to as a rezoning, can be applied
for at any time as long as the proposal is consistent with
the General Plan; if not, the general plan amendment procedure
must be followed as outlined above. As with general plan
amendments, actions taken by the Planning Commission on
rezoning applications serve as recommendations to the Board
of Supervisors. The Board must take final action to change
the zoning.
Conditional Use Permits
The zoning ordinance outlines a category of uses in each
zone district which are allowed only through the conditional
use permit process. These uses must be specifically authorized
by the Planning Commission, on a case by case basis, after
it is determined that the use is compatible with the surrounding
area. As the name implies, specific conditions, time limits,
and other project modifications may be required in conjunction
with a conditional use permit. Planning Commission decisions
on use permits (approval or denial) are final unless appealed
to the Board of Supervisors within 15 days.
Variances
For situations where an applicant feels the property development
standards outlined in the zoning ordinance should not be
applied because of special circumstances, a variance may
be applied for. For instance, if the zoning ordinance limits
the maximum height of a home to 35 feet, and an owner feels
that site conditions require a home to be taller, a variance
may be requested. Variances may be approved if all of the
following findings can be made:
a. There are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances
or conditions applying to the land, building or use referred
to in the application, which circumstances or conditions
do not apply generally to land, buildings, and/or uses in
the same zoning district.
b. The granting of the application is necessary for the
preservation and enjoyment of substantial property rights
of the petitioner.
c. The granting of the application will not, under the
circumstances of this particular case, materially affect
adversely the health or safety of persons residing or working
in the neighborhood of the property of the applicant and
will not, in the circumstances of this particular case,
be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious
to the property or improvements in that neighborhood.
d. The granting of the variance shall not constitute a
grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitations
upon other properties in the vicinity and zone in which
subject property is situated.
e. Because of special circumstances, applicable to subject
property, including size, shape, topography, location or
surroundings, the strict application of the zoning ordinance
would deprive the subject property of privileges enjoyed
by other properties in the vicinity and under identical
zone classifications.
Variance approvals or denials by the Commission are final
unless appealed.
Subdivision Maps
These are divisions of land normally into five or more
parcels. Subdivisions go through three stages: 1) Preliminary;
2) Tentative, and; 3) Final Maps. The preliminary map is
processed by the Subdivision Committee. The Subdivision
Committee consists of staff representatives of the following
departments: Engineering Department, Environmental Health
Department, Planning Department, Assessor's Office, Fire
Department, and the Road Department. Decisions or recommendations
of the Subdivision Committee are subject to appeal to the
Planning Commission. In most cases these appeals, variance
requests, etc., are heard at the same time as the tentative
map. The tentative map is heard by the Planning Commission
at a public hearing and if it is approved it is automatically
forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for final hearing
and decision. If the map is denied by the Commission, that
decision is final unless appealed to the Board of Supervisors.
Final maps go directly to the Board of Supervisors for review
(no public hearing required) and are not heard by the Planning
Commission.
Parcel Maps
Parcel maps are normally divisions of land into four or fewer parcels
which are processed by the Parcel Map Committee (Road, Environmental
Health, Engineering, Assessor, Planning, and Fire Departments).
State law requires that surrounding property owners be notified
of a land division and the public hearing before the Planning
Commission. At this hearing, the Planning Commission may approve,
deny, or place conditions on the parcel map. Planning Commission
decisions are final unless appealed to the Board of Supervisors.
Environmental Documents
All projects reviewed by the Planning Commission are subject
to review under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), unless they fall under an exemption. As part of
this process, projects are circulated to federal, state,
and local review agencies, and then evaluated by the County
Development Review Committee to determine what type of environmental
document should be prepared. An initial study is prepared
to summarize the conclusions of commenting agencies and
to formally address the potential for environmental effects
in several categories. One of three types of environmental
documents are typically required.
For projects where it can be determined that no significant
environmental effects will be generated, a “negative
declaration” is prepared. Alternatively, if it is
found that potentially significant impacts may occur, but
that the impacts can be eliminated or reduced to less-than-significant
levels if the applicant agrees to make changes or incorporate
conditions into the project, a “mitigated negative
declaration” is prepared. Both negative declarations
and mitigated negative declarations are prepared by Planning
Department staff.
For projects where there is substantial evidence that significant
environmental effects would be generated, but because of
the size, scale, or nature of the project it is not immediately
possible to identify and incorporate changes to reduce impacts
to less than significant levels, an “environmental
impact report” (EIR) must be prepared. An EIR provides
detailed analysis of the environmental setting, identifies
and describes impacts and mitigation measures, and evaluates
project alternatives. EIRs are prepared by an independent
consultant retained by the County, and are normally prepared
only for large scale or complex projects.
Environmental documents prepared for projects heard by
the Planning Commission must be certified as adequate by
the Commission before a decision can be made on the project.
If the project covered by the document must also be heard
by the Board, the EIR will also by forwarded to the Board
for certification.
| Contacting
Us |
Madera
County Planning Department
2037
W. Cleveland Ave. M.S. G
Madera, CA 93637
Telephone: (559) 675-7821
Fax: (559) 675-6573
Map this location for me
General Information:
Planning Director: Jerald C. James
Assistant Director: Joel Moses |
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