Special Permit Reform

San Andreas, CA — The Calaveras County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors want to make it easier for groups and residents to hold special events in the county. They held a joint meeting this month to review the current special permit process and make changes to make it more business friendly.

County Planning Director Rebecca Willis says “Right now where trying to loosen up the regulations on many of our events. There seems to be too much red tape and bureaucracy involved so we’re trying to peel that back.” Willis adds “We are creating different categories. For events that are simple and straight forward and don’t impact the neighbors we’re looking for an over-the-counter permit.”

Currently a 30-day wait and $100 fee are needed for events. Willis says that would remain in place for medium size events that require county departments to do an impact review.

Willis says in these poor economic times the county wants to be encouraging groups to hold events here and help boost the economy.

Willis says she has been told by both the Commission and Board to fast track this issue. She says there will be another meeting in September to look at possible permit reforms and those reforms could be vote on in October.