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TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS <br />EX PARTE CONTACTS POLICY <br />(Approved by City Council July 21, 2005) <br />A. Purpose. This policy is intended to ensure that decisions of the Town of <br />Los Altos Hills in quasi-judicial administrative proceedings comply with the <br />requirements of Due Process under the Constitutions of the United States and the State of <br />California. <br />B. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this policy: <br />"Contacts" means the receipt of information outside of a public hearing relevant <br />in a Quasi-judicial Proceeding of a Legislative Body. Contacts may include individual <br />conversations, written communications, electronic mails, telephone calls, and visits to <br />sites that are the subject of such hearings. <br />"Hearing" means an evidentiary hearing in a Quasi-judicial Proceeding. <br />"Legislative Body or Bodies" means the City Council and the Planning <br />Commission. <br />"Quasi-judicial Proceeding" means a Town proceeding in which a Legislative <br />Body applies existing legal standards to a particular set of facts that affects an individual <br />or individuals. Quasi-judicial proceedings include but we not limited to actions on site <br />development permits, conditional use permits, variances, and tentative subdivision maps. <br />"Pending" means an application to initiate a proceeding has been filed or the <br />Town has otherwise initiated a proceeding through the issuance of a notice or other <br />formal means. <br />B. Policy. <br />1. Members of Legislative Bodies that have Contacts related to Quasi- <br />judicial Proceedings shall disclose the Contacts on the record of the Quasi-judicial <br />Proceeding, as required by this policy, so that participants in the Hearing receive an <br />opportunity to rebut or explain information obtained from the Contacts. Contacts shall be <br />disclosed even if the Contacts took place before the Quasi-judicial Proceeding was <br />Pending. <br />2. Legislative Bodies often decide matters that involve Quasi-judicial <br />Proceedings that are contingent upon the concurrent approval one or more legislative <br />decisions, such as a site development permit approval that is contingent upon a zoning <br />ordinance amendment. While there are no specific statutes or appellate decisions that <br />require disclosure of Contacts in such contexts, members of Legislative Bodies that have <br />Contacts in such proceedings we encouraged to disclose the Contacts in the same manner <br />that Contacts are disclosed in ordinary Quasi-judicial Proceedings. <br />7586903 <br />