New Permit Submittal Process

On March 2, 2009, the County of Ventura implemented new procedures for applications for discretionary permits.

To Whom Does This Apply?

The new procedures apply to applicants submitting any of the following discretionary permits:

• Tract Map
• Parcel Map
• Discretionary Parcel Map Waiver
• Conditional Certificate of Compliance
• Conditional Use Permit
• Planned Development Permit
• Variance
• Administrative Variance
• Zone Change
• Minor or Major Modifications to any of the permits listed above

What This Means

New Application Form

The County developed a new application form for the discretionary permits, subdivisions, and zone changes listed above. You may download the new application form in PDF format by selecting the link below. Alternatively, you may visit the Planning Counter located on the third floor of the County of Ventura Hall of Administration at 800 S. Victoria Avenue in order to obtain a hard copy, or you may contact the Planning Counter at (805) 654-2488.

New Procedures

As discussed below, the County has assigned additional staff and established new procedures to assist you with processing your application for a discretionary permit. 

Discretionary Permit Coordinator

All applications for the discretionary permits, subdivisions, and zone changes listed above must be coordinated with, and submitted to, Winston Wright, the Discretionary Permit Coordinator.  After you have reviewed the new application form, please contact Winston Wright at (805) 654-2468 or Winston.wright@ventura.org or Dawnyelle Addison at (805) 654-2478 or Dawnyelle.Addison@ventura.org in order to schedule a pre-application meeting at which you will be able to discuss your project, obtain a list of the submittal requirements for your application, and review the procedures for submitting and processing your application.

When scheduling your meeting with Winston Wright, please have the following information available:

• Your name and the phone number at which you can be reached.
• The Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) of the project site.  If you do not know the APN of the project site, you may obtain it here.
• A basic description of the project that you are considering.

Development Review Committee (DRC)

The County of Ventura established a Development Review Committee (DRC) consisting of key County staff in various departments (e.g. Fire, Public Works, Traffic, Environmental Health, etc.) who review discretionary permit applications, and who will meet on a regular basis to discuss, and provide early guidance to applicants on projects. More specifically, the DRC is intended to provide guidance to applicants prior to the submittal of a discretionary permit application (i.e. at the presubmittal stage). The current fee for this service is a flat fee of $1,800.

As part of your pre-application meeting with the Discretionary Permit Coordinator, the Discretionary Permit Coordinator will advise you as to whether a DRC meeting is recommended for your project.  DRC meetings are tentatively scheduled to be held every other Thursday at 1:30 pm in room 311 at the Hall of Administration.

New Billing System

The County of Ventura has been working for the past several months to develop a unified, single billing system for discretionary land use permits. Beginning Monday, March 2, 2009, new discretionary land use permit application submittals will be processed through the new system. The unified system will allow applicants to pay application fees at one time to Planning upon initial application submittal and will allow the County to send a single, unified, monthly invoice that includes all Planning, Public Works, and other agency costs associated with the permit.

Other Resources

All of the existing resources for obtaining information on the discretionary permit process will remain in effect and available to you.  These include: