Planning Commission

Staff: Greg Wolff, Planning & Building Director (925) 299-3204
Email: planningcommission@lovelafayette.org

The Planning Commission is charged with development of the General Plan, implementation and administration of the Zoning Ordinance, and review of development applications. Click here for the responsibilities of the Planning Commission. Click here for the Conflict of Interest Policy for the Members of the Planning and Design Review Commissions. The City Council is seeking volunteers for the Planning Commission vacancies. Click here for an application. The following are the planning documents that the commissioners must be familiar with to execute their duties.

Work Plan:

• Update the zoning ordinances and zoning map to ensure consistency with the General Plan and Downtown Specific Plan.
• Be familiar with Lafayette Municipal Code, Title 6 - Planning & Land Use and Residential Design Review Guidelines.
• Prepare the Downtown Design Guidelines after completion of the Downtown Specific Plan.
• Exercise the powers and duties prescribed by statute and ordinance and as assigned by the City Council.
• Hear and decide land use permits, variances, design review, hillside development permits, and subdivision applications.
• Advise the City Council on administration of laws governing approval of rezonings, planned developments, and ordinance changes.
• Evaluate planning procedures to provide services in the most expeditious fashion without sacrificing quality of review.
• Evaluate the existing level of review for new development and where necessary to implement General Plan goals, recommend changes to the City Council.

Meeting Participation Information

The Planning Commission typically meets at 7:00 p.m. on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month in the Lafayette Library & Learning Center's Community Hall at 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Please see the City Calendar or the events box on the right for details on upcoming meetings.

Commission meetings will be hybrid, allowing in-person and virtual participation. As a courtesy, and technology permitting, members of the public may participate virtually. However, the City cannot guarantee that the public’s access to teleconferencing technology will be uninterrupted, and technical difficulties may occur from time to time. Unless required by the Brown Act, the Commission meeting will continue despite technical difficulties for participants using the teleconferencing (Zoom) option. To watch, participate, or provide public comment, you have the following options:

• Attend the meeting in person. Fill out a Speaker Card and give it to staff. Your name will be called when it is time for you to speak.
• Submit Comments Before the Meeting: Send an e-mail to the project planner. Comments received by 12:00 p.m. on the Monday prior to the hearing date will be included with the staff report packet. Comments and any graphics speakers wish to use as part of public comment must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. on the hearing date; the materials will be provided to the Commission and made available to the Commission and public at the meeting. A copy shall be available for public inspection, and it shall be made available as part of the agenda packet. Please note that there is no guarantee that there will be adequate time to read and discuss late-arriving comments at the meeting. Individuals who submit comments are encouraged to attend the hearing to answer any questions. Any comments received during the hearing will be distributed to the Commissioners in the next packet if the item requires an additional hearing.
• Join the Meeting Remotely:
  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86549326026?pwd=UkQ0ZmhMTlRTMm9tQSt2ZnBTSUsyUT09
  Webinar ID:  865 4932 6026
  Passcode: 456155
  Telephone: (669) 900-9128
  International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdMnFQfUEz
  • Live Remote Public Comments: Members of the public may submit live public comment via Zoom. When the Commission Chairperson invites public comment for the item on which you would like to comment, please use the "raise hand" feature (or press *9 if connecting via telephone only) to alert staff you have a public comment to provide. Each speaker is allowed three (3) minutes to speak. Any graphic a speaker wishes to use as part of public comment must be emailed to the Project Planner by 12:00 p.m. the day of the meeting.
• Watch or Listen: Meetings are broadcast on the City of Lafayette’s YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/LoveLafayetteYouTube. Archived, on-demand audio of each meeting is maintained on the City’s website as apart of public record. 

If you challenge the City’s decision on this matter in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearings described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City at, or prior to, the public hearing. California Code of Civil Procedure §1094.6 (review of administrative decisions) is applicable to the City of Lafayette and provides for the review of any decision of the City only if the petition for writ of mandate is filed within 90 days after the decision becomes final.

Any person with a disability who requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting should direct such request to Joanne Robbins, City Clerk at (925) 299-3210 at least 48 hours before the meeting, if possible. 

In order to be notified automatically by email when agendas are posted, sign up for our E-Notification service.

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