(a) Whenever the director of a Department of Transportation highway district recommends to a public agency considering an application to subdivide real property or to issue a construction permit that the agency impose certain conditions on its approval of the application, the applicant may appeal the district director’s recommendation.
(b) The Department of Transportation shall adopt regulations prescribing procedures for effecting an appeal pursuant to subdivision (a). The appeal shall be made in writing to the Director of Transportation. The director’s decision on the appeal shall be rendered within 60 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, and the director’s written determination shall be transmitted to the appellant and to the agency to whom the appealed recommendation was made. The adopted regulations shall require the appellant to pay to the department a fee of not more than 50 percent of the estimated administrative cost to the department of conducting the appeal.
(c) The appeal process, including the director’s written determination, shall be completed at least 60 days prior to completion of the period of public review for a draft environmental impact report or a negative declaration prescribed by Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code.
(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 796, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1994.)