The Department of Planning and Development is currently recruiting for one (1) Senior Planner that will serve as the County of Santa Clara’s Agricultural Permitting Ally.
With 890 farms, over 288,000 acres of land, and over $310 million of produce, Santa Clara County’s vibrant community is composed of a diverse, multicultural population with agriculture that is driven by dedicated farmers and farmworkers who call Santa Clara County home. The County is seeking a new and key team player with general planning experience as well as a strong agricultural planning acumen to serve as an agricultural permitting ally (Senior Planner). A Senior Planner in this role would help farmers understand what rules and regulations apply to agricultural worker housing and would help applicants navigate the various permits and departmental approvals that are required. As an ally for agricultural permitting, this Senior Planner would focus on making the process of development more approachable and accessible and will explore options and alternatives with prospective applicants to provide housing on their farm or ranch, or establish new or expanded agricultural producing businesses, while maintaining the asset of agriculturally viable land throughout the rural unincorporated county areas. The agricultural permitting ally is a unique role that will be responsible for assisting farmers with agricultural worker housing and other agricultural-specific permitting, including but not limited to: assisting farmers through the County of Santa Clara’s building permitting process; helping farmers resolve code violations and maintain compliance with land use and building codes and standards; identifying opportunities for streamlining agricultural worker housing; promoting and supporting the production of safe and livable housing inventory for agricultural workers through the County of Santa Clara; and, working with local, state, and federal partners to connect farmers with resources. This Senior Planner will also assist in public counter inquiries and day-to-day activities of the Department as needed. The County of Santa Clara is committed to addressing the challenges that impact farmworker housing shortages and conditions.
In addition to meeting the employment standards for a Senior Planner, candidates must possess in-depth knowledge and working experience in two (2) or more of the following areas:
- Preparing advanced California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents (e.g., Initial Studies, Mitigated Negative Declarations, Environmental Impact Reports).
- Experience in complex medium- to large-scale development entitlement projects such as campus planning, industrial, commercial, housing, agricultural housing or processing developments, or similar projects requiring advanced CEQA processing, staff report writing, data management and analysis, public outreach and public hearings.
- Experience in the management of CEQA and technical consultants, including meeting coordination, reviewing work products, and contracting/billing. Experience in managing consultants to ensure the project is completed within the approved timeline and budget with the proper deliverable is required.
- General requirements of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA), preparation of annual surface mining inspection reports, and review and approval of Financial Assurance Cost Estimate (FACE), Reclamation Plans, and Mining Plans.
- Analytical understanding of State laws and regulations impacting land use and local government, with directly related work products that include major ordinance revisions and creation and processing of new programs. This would include preparation of professional staff reports of summarized data, conclusions and recommendations.
- Have conducted as a lead project manager or co-project manager long-range, comprehensive planning projects; e.g., general plan updates, major zoning ordinance amendments, specific plans, vision plans, etc., with working knowledge of the principals and practices of such working documents.
- Agricultural Permitting Ally: General requirements of building permit processing, resolving code violations, and maintaining compliance with land use and building codes and standards as it relates to agricultural worker housing and other agricultural-specific permitting.
Filing Period and Application Procedure
Final Filing Date: Open until filled. The recruitment may be extended or closed as early as 10 days after the issue date. You are encouraged to apply as soon as possible and to monitor this site for updated closing information.
The first review of applications is tentatively scheduled for the week of April 21st, 2025.
Under limited direction, to provide service to the public and permit applicants, to coordinate the review and analysis of development applications for cities, agencies and other county departments, to conduct planning studies, feasibility studies, master plans and concept plans, to research and analyze planning data, to make policy, ordinance and program recommendations, and to administer zoning, planning or parks and recreation development programs. The Senior Planner will be working for the Department of Planning and Development.
Typical Tasks
- Provides advanced level customer support for the preparation and processing of moderate to major development applications, re-zonings and plan amendments;
- Serves as a project manager for the preparation and review of master plans, concept plans, feasibility studies, development applications, zoning and plan amendments and annexations, and other planning-related documents by leading the process, supervising professional and technical staff, establishing procedures, setting goals, and assuming responsibility for the final outcomes;
- Supervises consultants and negotiates, executes and administers third-party consultant contracts, including fiscal controls such as budget tracking and verification of invoices;
- Serves as a program manager for a specialized portion of the planning program such as zoning administration, architectural review, Stanford administration, surface mining, historic resources, agriculture and park and open space related projects, and airport land use;
- Develops and manages complex planning studies, master plans, concept plans or feasibility studies and reports on topics, such as land use, housing, historic resources, environmental impacts and economic development, in support of new or updated plan policies, regulations or programs;
- Performs field inspections to gather data relevant to planning projects and the development review process, to verify that development projects comply with approved plans or to initiate actions necessary to correct violations of regulations or project conditions;
- Enters development permit information and permit process workflow data in a central database;
- Abstracts information from aerial photographs, subdivision maps, census reports, building permits, etc., for analysis in planning studies;
- Analyzes geographic information systems data and creates maps;
- Prepares plans, maps, graphs and other visual aids;
- Leads or serves on advisory committees or boards such as Bay Trail, Bay Area Ridge Trail Council South County Committee or zoning decision-making bodies, schedules and conducts meetings, assists elected officials and their staff with planning matters and constituent concerns;
- Prepares or manages personnel who prepare environmental documents in compliance with environmental laws such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA);
- Conducts in-depth property specific research including the review of deeds and other legal documents;
- Prepares recommendations and presents detailed written and oral reports on complex development applications, standards, zoning ordinances, General Plan amendments or local or regional planning initiatives to decision-making bodies such as Board of Supervisors, Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning Commission, Airport Land Use Commission, Historical Heritage Commission, Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee, and San Martin Planning Advisory Committee;
- Assists in the training and supervision of subordinate staff; Analyzes and reviews complex land development applications, site plans and building permit applications for completeness and conformance with policies, ordinances, master plans, concept plans, County General Plan, conditions of approval, and State and Federal regulations, prepares conditions of approval where necessary, and takes discretionary action on certain land development projects that reviewed at the staff level, making required findings;
- Prepares and delivers presentations to community organizations, clubs, planning seminars, homeowners groups, etc.;
- Participates in meetings, conferences and workshops at local, regional and state levels;
- Assists in the administration of a functional unit;
- Conducts advanced outreach to community organizations, government agencies, developers and the public to encourage participation, resolve problems or obtain input;
- Answers inquiries and provides general information to the public regarding land use projects, permitting procedures, development policies, plans, zoning ordinances and other regulations;
- Provides information to the public regarding the permitting and development review requirements of other County departments such as Fire Marshal's Office, Environmental Health, Land Development Engineering, Geology, Roads and Airports, and Building, and County programs such as Williamson Act, Historic Preservation, and the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan;
- Resolves issues and complaints from the public or neighbors and permit applicants;
- Attends evening meetings;
- May be assigned as a Disaster Service Worker, as required;
- Performs related work as required.
Employment Standards
Possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college with a major in planning, architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, natural resources, social science or related field;
-AND -
Three (3) years of professional planning experience. A Master's degree in planning may be substituted for two (2) years of the required experience. A Master's degree in a closely related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.
Possession of a valid California Driver's License prior to appointment and the ability to qualify for and maintain a County Driver's Permit.
Possession of license, registration or certification in a related field, such as American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), is desirable.
