Associate Planner

Salary placement upon hire:
Employees may expect to be placed on the salary range between steps A – G.

Union
:
This position is covered by the United Public Employees of California (UPEC) labor group. Associate planners are exempt from overtime.

Under direction, provides professional planning services to City staff, developers, contractors, and the general public; performs professional, technical, statistical, and analytical duties involving land use or other planning studies for a variety of public or private development projects; reviews development and land use applications, as well as zoning and site plans; assists the public at the front counter; completes technical assessments and prepares written project analyses;

and performs related duties as assigned.

Receives direction from assigned supervisory or management personnel. Exercises no direct supervision over staff.

This is the fully qualified journey-level classification in the Planner series. Positions at this level are distinguished from the Assistant Planner by the performance of the full range of duties as assigned, working independently, and exercising judgment and initiative. Positions at this level receive only occasional instruction or assistance as new or unusual situations arise and are fully aware of the operating procedures and policies of the work unit.

This class is distinguished from the Senior Planner in that the latter performs the more complex work assigned to the series, such as managing planning projects.

• Provides information and assistance at the public counter, over the telephone, and via e‑mail to the public, developers, property owners, contractors, other departments, and outside agencies regarding laws, policies, regulations, standards, and procedures with respect to the submission of plans, processing of applications, and implementation requirements.
• Reviews routine to complex proposals, plans, and applications for subdivision, housing, commercial and industrial developments, variances, use permits, and business licenses; determines compliance with appropriate codes, ordinances, standards, laws, rules, regulations, and policies; recommends approval and issues permits, or identifies problems and assesses alternatives; ensures submitted plans comply with zoning ordinances and the General Plan.
• Manages entitlement projects for commercial, industrial, and residential properties, zoning clearances, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and/or National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental studies, and documents for projects; ensures applicants understand the planning process; meets multiple deadlines to ensure projects are completed in a timely fashion.
• Compiles information for a variety of studies and reports; researches, analyzes, and interprets social, economic, population, and land use data and trends; assists in reviewing environmental impact reports; develops recommendations and prepares written reports on various planning matters; participates in the implementation and administration of the City’s General Plan and development regulations.
• Schedules, coordinates, and participates in project meetings for planning entitlement projects with applicants, developers, and property owners for project updates; meets and discusses projects with other department/divisions; schedules and coordinates other meetings, as required.
• Coordinates the preparation of meeting agendas for various commissions, boards, and community groups; reviews draft materials and prepares comments; organizes conferences and work sessions and ensures timely notification of appropriate parties.
• Assigns and routes plan checks as well as structural, grading, and landscape plans to staff; reviews plan checks for conformity and maintains logs of plan checks processed by the department.
• Develops and maintains a statistical reporting system; compiles, analyzes, and interprets data to define environmental conditions, social, economic, and housing trends, community needs, and zoning challenges.
• Prepares and presents staff reports for…