🏛️ MVM CIVICS 101 — Community Development

What Does Community Development Do?

What is “City staff”?

City staff means the people who work for the City.

They are different from the Mayor and Councilmembers, who are elected. They are also different from members of boards and commissions, who are appointed.

City staff includes:

• Department directors
• Planners
• Building inspectors
• Engineers
• Permit workers
• Finance employees
• Code officers
• Animal Services employees
• Many other workers

Most City departments report through the City Manager.

What is the Community Development Department?

Community Development is one of the City’s departments.

Its four main divisions are:

• Planning Division (different from Planning Commission)
• Building and Safety
• Community Enhancement and Neighborhood Services
• Animal Services

The department provides several different kinds of service. Not all of them are part of the development-review process.

What does the Planning Division do?

The Planning Division helps manage how land is used and developed.

Planning staff:

• Answers questions about zoning
• Receives development applications
• Checks whether applications are complete
• Reviews project plans
• Explains which City rules apply
• Reviews projects under the General Plan
• Helps complete required environmental reviews
• Sends plans to other departments and agencies
• Prepares reports and proposed conditions
• Makes recommendations
• Provides staff support to the Planning Commission and City Council

Planning staff also works on updates to the General Plan, zoning rules and other long-term plans.

What does Building and Safety do?

Building and Safety checks whether buildings and construction work follow City and state building codes.

Staff may:

• Review construction plans
• Issue building permits
• Inspect construction work
• Check building safety
• Answer permit questions

A planning approval and a building permit are not the same thing.

A project may receive planning approval but still need detailed building plans, permits and inspections before construction can begin.

What does Community Enhancement and Neighborhood Services do?

This division responds to complaints and enforces many parts of the City’s Municipal Code.

Its work may include:

• Code complaints
• Property-maintenance problems
• Parking enforcement
• Business licenses
• Signs
• Graffiti and neighborhood problems
• Other City code issues

The goal is often to have the owner correct the problem. Citations or other enforcement steps may be used when needed.

Why is Animal Services part of Community Development?

The City has placed Animal Services within the Community Development Department.

Animal Services provides services such as:

• Animal shelter operations
• Dog licensing
• Pet adoptions
• Vaccination services
• Spay and neuter programs
• Help with lost or found pets

Animal Services is part of the department, but it usually is not involved in reviewing a development application.

What happens when someone submits a development application?

The applicant submits forms, plans, fees and any required studies to the City.

Planning staff first checks whether the application contains the information needed for review.

The plans may then be sent to other City departments and public agencies.

Depending on the project, the review may involve:

• Planning
• Building and Safety
• Public Works and Engineering
• Fire Prevention
• Moreno Valley Utility
• Economic Development
• Other City departments
• County, state or regional agencies

Each group reviews the parts of the project connected to its work.

What does staff check?

Staff may check whether the project follows:

• The General Plan
• Zoning rules
• Rules for the size and design of the project
• Parking requirements
• Traffic and driveway rules
• Building and fire codes
• Landscaping rules
• Environmental laws
• Other City, state or federal requirements

The exact review depends on the type of project.

Can staff ask the applicant to change the project?

Yes.

Staff may find missing information or parts of the plan that do not follow City rules.

Staff may ask the applicant to:

• Provide more information
• Submit a required study
• Correct a plan
• Change part of the project
• Explain how a problem will be addressed

A project may go through several rounds of review.

The applicant may change the proposal, continue working with staff or withdraw the application.

Does working with an applicant mean staff supports the project?

Not necessarily.

Helping an applicant understand the rules is part of staff’s job.

Staff may explain problems, identify needed studies and suggest ways to bring a project into line with City rules.

That does not guarantee approval. It also does not mean staff chose the project or the business being proposed.

The property owner or developer chose what to submit.

Can City staff approve a development application?

Sometimes.

The Municipal Code gives City staff the power to make the final decision on certain applications without a public hearing.

Examples may include:

• Home-business permits
• Temporary-use permits
• Sign permits
• Certain parking-lot changes
• Exterior changes to some business, industrial or apartment buildings
• Certain projects inside existing shopping centers
• Some lot-line changes
• Some small additions or other minor projects
• More time to complete certain projects that were already approved

The exact review depends on the project. Staff must still check whether the application follows all City rules.

Some staff decisions may be appealed to the Planning Commission.

Other applications require a public hearing and a decision by the Planning Commission or City Council.

What is a staff report?

A staff report explains an item that will go to the Planning Commission or City Council.

A report may include:

• A description of the project
• The location
• The applications being requested
• The rules that apply
• Information from other departments
• Environmental review
• Public comments received before the report was completed
• Proposed conditions
• Staff’s recommendation
• Possible choices for the Commission or Council

The staff report gives the decision-makers information to consider.

Is the staff recommendation the final decision?

Not when the decision belongs to the Planning Commission or City Council.

Staff reviews the project and recommends what should happen.

The Planning Commission or City Council then reviews the report, asks questions, hears public comments and makes its own decision.

The decision-makers may:

• Accept the staff recommendation
• Change proposed conditions
• Ask for more information
• Delay the decision
• Reach a different decision supported by the rules and facts

The basic difference is:

Staff reviews and recommends → The proper official, Planning Commission or City Council decides

Why might staff recommend approval of a project people oppose?

Staff’s recommendation must be based on the application, City rules and required findings.

Staff does not conduct a public vote on whether the proposed business is popular.

If staff believes the project meets the legal requirements for approval, staff may recommend approval even when some residents oppose it.

Public concerns may still be important. They are most useful when they connect to issues the City is allowed to consider, such as traffic, noise, safety or effects on nearby property.

Can staff deny a project?

Sometimes.

Staff may deny an application when City law gives staff the power to make the decision and the project does not meet the requirements.

When the Planning Commission or City Council has the power to decide, staff normally makes a recommendation instead of the final decision.

The applicant may have the right to appeal certain staff decisions.

Does staff make zoning laws?

No.

City staff may study an issue, prepare possible changes and make recommendations.

The Planning Commission may review proposed changes and make its own recommendation.

The City Council has the power to approve changes to the General Plan and zoning laws.

Staff helps write and carry out the rules, but the Council adopts them.

Is a building permit approval the same as approval of the business?

No.

Different approvals answer different questions.

A planning approval asks whether the proposed use and site plan meet planning and zoning requirements.

A building permit asks whether the construction plans meet building and safety codes.

A business license allows a business to operate under the City’s business-license rules.

A project may need several approvals before it can open.

Receiving one approval does not always mean every other approval has been granted.

Who is responsible for a staff recommendation?

The staff report normally identifies the employees who prepared and reviewed it.

The recommendation is made by City staff through the department’s review process.

The Planning Commission or City Council remains responsible for its own vote.

A useful way to follow the process is to ask:

• Who submitted the application?
• Who reviewed it?
• What did staff recommend?
• Who had the power to decide?
• How did each decision-maker vote?
• Who is responsible for carrying out the decision?

Official sources

• Moreno Valley Community Development Department
• Community Development Department Divisions
• Moreno Valley Development Approval Process
• Moreno Valley Planning Division
• Community Enhancement and Neighborhood Services
• Moreno Valley Municipal Code: Permits and Approvals

Last reviewed: September 1, 2026