11-4-1 Development Review Process
Unofficial copy. It may be out of date. Not legal or zoning advice. Zoning rules change, and only the city or county can say for sure what is allowed on a property. Confirm with the city or county planning department before you buy, sign or build.
The official River Heights code is at https://riverheights.gov/river-heights-city-code/.
Text pulled 2026-10-19 from this source.
Tables (like use tables) may not copy cleanly, so check any table against the official code.
Confirm anything here with River Heights planning before you rely on it.
A. Intent:
1. By the time an applicant creates a preliminary plat, both the applicant and the city have made a substantial investment in time and money. In addition, once the preliminary plat has been completed, it is difficult and expensive to rework the plans for the project.
2. To better meet the needs of the city and the applicant, the city has adopted the following development review process, which requires subdivision applications and approvals to be administrative decisions, whereby an application must be approved if it meets the approved requirements in this ordinance. This is also intended to remove discretion in the decision-making process.
3. The following subdivision process applies to all residential project types, except for minor subdivisions (see City Code 11-5 Review and Plat Requirements - Minor Subdivisions).
4. Review Cycle. There shall be no more than four (4) total review cycles. The first review cycle will be performed by the planning commission for the preliminary plat; the remaining review cycles will be performed by the development review committee (DRC) for the final plat. A single review cycle shall be considered complete when:
a. A complete application is submitted to the administrative land use authority (ALUA);
b. The ALUA review is complete;
c. The applicant’s response to the review is complete; and
d. The ALUA provides a written statement to the applicant stating completion of the review cycle and next required steps for approval.
5. Review Cycle, Exceptions.
a. To protect public health and safety or to enforce state or federal law, additional review cycles may be required when necessitated by the applicant adjustments to a plan set that modifies infrastructure requirements.
b. Additional Time for Review. If the applicant does not submit a revised plan within forty (40) business days after notification by the ALUA that a modification or correction is required, the ALUA shall have an additional forty (40) business days to respond. (1-2025, 3-18-25)