CC RES 1991-054RESOLUTION NO. 91 -54
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES SUSTAINING THE APPEAL
AND DENYING THE APPLICATION FOR A ONE -YEAR
TIME EXTENSION OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT
NO. 147, VARIANCE NO. 236, GRADING
APPLICATION NO, 1274 FOR A PROPOSED
COMMERCIAL BUILDING AT 31270 PALOS VERDES
DRIVE WEST
WHEREAS, on April 17, 1990, the City Council of the City
of Rancho Palos Verdes adopted Resolution No. 90 -18 approving
Conditional Use Permit No. 147, Variance No. 236 and Grading
Application No. 1274, subject to certain conditions of approval;
and
WHEREAS, Condition No. 1 of the Conditions of Approval
attached to and incorporated within Resolution No. 90 -18 provides:
"These approvals shall expire one year from the date of
this action unless application for building permits is
made. One, one -year extension may be granted by the
Planning Commission if requested prior to expiration."
WHEREAS, Pan Asian Cultural Enterprises, Inc. filed a
timely request for a one -year time extension with the
Environmental Services Department; and
WHEREAS, on May 28, 1991, the Planning Commission
approved the requested one -year time extension to April 17, 1992;
and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission's action was timely
appealed to the City Council on June 12, 1991; and
WHEREAS, the City Council conducted a duly noticed
public hearing on July 2, 1991 to hear the appeal from the
Planning Commission's approval of the one -year time extension; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has weighed and considered the
information and evidence contained in the staff report and
presented at the public hearing by members of the public;
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Rancho
Palos `Verdes does hereby find, determine and resolve as follows:
Section 1. Section 17.56.080 of the Rancho Palos Verdes
Municipal Code provides in relevant part:
"Said time may be subject to extension by the
Commission for good cause when the applicant presents
proof of an unusual hardship not of his own making."
The purported grounds of hardship stated by the
applicant in the time extension request were "general economic
business downturn within the last year, which affected the leasing
prospects." The argument advanced by the applicant does not fall
within the provisions of Section 17.56.080 because general
economic conditions do not constitute an unusual hardship;
instead, the recession affects the entire economy and,
accordingly, many projects within the City. Furthermore, since
the general economy still has not fully recovered from the
recession, the reasons advanced by the applicant for failing to
develop the project within the initial one -year period still are
in effect and would prevent development of the project at this
time. Thus, the City Council finds that the grounds advanced by
the applicant in support of the time extension request do not
satisfy the requirements of Section 17.56.080.
Section 2. The applicant waited until virtually the end
of the year after approval of the project by the Planning
Commission before submitting the geologic reports to the City for
review by the City's geologist. Those reports were a necessary
prerequisite to obtaining building permits to construct the
project and were within the applicant's control. The applicant's
delay in presenting those reports to the City necessarily
precluded issuance of building permits for the project during the
year following Planning Commission approval. Because submission
of the geologic reports was within the applicant's control, the
applicant did not satisfy the requirements of Section 17.56.080
and failed to demonstrate that the time extension was necessary
due to "an unusual hardship not of his own making."
Section 3. For the foregoing reasons, and based upon
the information included in the Staff Report and the evidence
presented to the City Council, the City Council of the City of
Rancho Palos Verdes does hereby grant the appeal, overrule the
action of the Planning Commission, and deny the request for a
-s -2- PFSOL. NO. 91 -54
one -year time extension of the approval of Conditional Use Permit
No. 147, Variance No. 236 and Grading Application No. 1274.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of A4gust,
19910
6 c r(
Ma or
ATTEST:
City -Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES )
I, JO PURCELL, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos
Verdes, hereby certify that the above Resolution 91 -54 was duly
and regularly passed and adopted by the said City Council at a
regular meeting thereof held on the 6th day of August, 1991.
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,.' CITY CLERK
CITY;,; F RANCHO PALOS VERDES
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