THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601200103
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
IF YOU'VE installed a swimming pool, renovated your home or made other improvements, you may be familiar with the Planning Department.
Planning affects the neighborhood around us, road sizes and even the natural environment. That's one reason you - or your representative - took your plans for department approval.
To begin the process, you take construction plans to city planners and obtain a building permit from the inspections office. The cost of permits is based on the value of the construction.
Zoning officials ascertain whether a swimming pool, mobile home or renovation project is a permitted land use for your area. If so, the resident completes a $15 zoning permit application from the Planning Department, which finishes the process.
The Planning Department executive director, Paul Fisher, hopes eventually to get the building inspections office and Planning Department under one roof.
The lack of one-stop shopping is the least of problems for some.
Not everyone is happy with zoning decisions made by planners, said Fisher. A resident disputing a decision has the right to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals to contest a matter.
The process is different for developers, said Fisher.
A developer interested in planning a subdivision on land that's already zoned for it would need to get a preliminary zoning plat from the department. The developer would need to show lot sizes to planners. The plat is then voted on first by the Planning Commission and then the City Council.
However, developers who want a subdivision on an area that's not zoned for the development must get a rezoning request. The request is first studied and voted on by the Planning Commission, an advisory board to the Department. The City Council then votes on the request. The department's address is 428 W. Washington St. Call 925-6646. The Inspections Office is at 444 W. Washington St. Call 925-6398. MEMO: The Planning Department, with an annual budget of $387,000, has 12
positions, including seven planners, two planning technicians, one
zoning map staffer and two administrative assistant staffers.
by CNB