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triggered, a special permit was never triggered. And, you know, throughout the process BJ
<br />mentioned, you know, sometimes we have to get, Department of Health is triggered, sometimes
<br />other agencies gets triggered. Maybe, why didn’t this special permit get triggered throughout the
<br />two-year process?
<br />COTTLE: Staff hasn’t actually seen the building plans so we don’t know what the plans
<br />showed. But sometimes what will happen, and I’m not saying that’s what happened in this case,
<br />but sometimes what will happen is they’ll come in for plans for a commercial kitchen and it will
<br />be more associated with processing agricultural products that are grown on the property. So we
<br />would go ahead and sign off on a building permit for that purpose. And then the use is converted
<br />down the road without the knowledge of the Planning Department, and I’m not saying that’s
<br />what happened in this case cause I haven’t seen the plans, but that does happen.
<br />LEITHEAD TODD: I mentioned that a commercial kitchen in an agricultural area does not per
<br />se trigger a need for a special permit if they are processing stuff on the property that’s grown on
<br />the property. So I don’t know the history of this particular permit and what their representation
<br />was or what happened when it came through. And it could be that when staff looked at it they
<br />just, you know, didn’t see a trigger, or itcould be that the clerk up front who traditionally signs
<br />off on the building permit didn’t see a need to take it to a planner. Because what typically
<br />happens is when somebody comes in they just look at whether it’s consistent with, you know,
<br />what they see on the property, and they’re not necessarily looking at whether there’s a
<br />commercial aspect. And we do have commercial kitchens that have been approved on Ag zoned
<br />lands.
<br />The part that is just, that I particularly, you know, feel bad about is the fact that the applicants are
<br />so far down the road in terms of having built and invested and put the money. And that, you
<br />know, it does raise the question that somewhere along the line why didn’t someone in the county,
<br />you know, say to them, well, you know, what are you planning to do with this cause it’s a major
<br />expenditure. And for that part I feel, I do feel very badly about the applicants because it’s a
<br />terrible situation to be in. Their representation is that they’ve put about $125,000 into this. And
<br />then to be that far down the line and have had the building permit approved, and to have no one
<br />say along the line that there was some other approval that they needed in order to go forward is,
<br />it doesn’t reflect well on the process. And, unfortunately, this doesn’t, I think, reflect well on the
<br />County in terms of the fact that nobody along the line asked them and specifically brought this to
<br />their attention. And perhaps that’s something that we need to correct within the Department that
<br />when something comes in we need to ask a few more questions about, you know, what the intent
<br />is so that we can catch something before people have expended money. Because I think we had
<br />something, well, no the other one was built like a garage and I don’t think we would have caught
<br />that automotive thing when it was just a garage that was being constructed.
<br />But in the case of a commercial kitchen perhaps that would be a trigger. And I think I will, in
<br />fact, based on, you know, this hearing provide new instruction to staff on those building permits.
<br />It doesn’t help them out but hopefully we can catch things in the future before they get this far
<br />down the road.
<br />KERN: Thank you very much. Any questions? Seeing none, how does my Fellow
<br />Commissioners feel, you’re ready for a quick recess or you want to push through?
<br />ONO: Recess.
<br />DOMINGO: Recess.
<br />KERN: Okay, moved for a 5-minute recess.
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