Redlands City Council receives training on land use decision-making

REDLANDS, Calif. — The Redlands City Council and Planning Commission recently participated in a joint training session to review their respective roles and responsibilities in land use project reviews and decision-making.

Why it matters: The training, conducted by Todd Leishman of Best, Best & Krieger, aimed to clarify the distinct functions of each body and ensure proper procedures are followed in land use decisions.

Details: City Attorney Yvette Abich Garcia provided a summary of the training to the City Council at their recent meeting, emphasizing the importance of understanding these roles for the benefit of the community.

"The City Council is the legislative body. It is the body that adopts the general plan, adopts land use and zoning rules. It is also the reviewing body for planning commission decisions," Garcia explained. "The Planning Commission, though, is the planning agency of the city. We look to the Planning Commission for recommendations on land use laws, general plan amendments or provisions that we would insert in the general plan, things we would put into our zoning code."

The training clarified the difference between legislative decisions, where the planning commission advises the city council on new land use policies, and quasi-adjudicative decisions, where the commission acts like a judge, applying existing land use rules to specific property requests.

Garcia highlighted the importance of due process in quasi-adjudicative decisions. "When the Planning Commission Acts in that capacity, they're really acting like a judge. They're taking in evidence from testimony from the city staff, environmental studies, other studies, expert testimony, and they're applying the evidence to a set of criteria in order to decide whether they're going to approve a project, approve an application for a permit or not."

The training also covered the concept of "findings," which are written explanations of how the planning commission reached its decision. These findings must be supported by substantial evidence presented during the hearing.

"Findings are the explanation of how the planning commission made their decision, and it's weaving in the evidence with the criteria for that project approval," Garcia said.

Best practices for decision-making were also addressed, including the importance of avoiding bias and being cautious with ex parte communications, meaning private conversations held before a hearing. Garcia advised, "If you must meet with the applicant or the third party, I always recommend that you do more listening than talking."

The training touched on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and when an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required. Development Services Department Director Brian Desatnik explained, "If you determine through the initial step study that you cannot mitigate the impacts to a level of insignificance, then you're required by law to go to a full environmental impact report."

What they’re saying: Council Member Eddie Tejeda, who requested the summary be presented, emphasized the value of the training. "I think it's really important for members of our community to understand the training that occurred that day," Tejeda said.