1. Enforcement of zoning regulations; building permit.
a. These zoning regulations shall be enforced by the Municipal Building Official, or his or her designated representative (acting at the direction of the City Council), who shall review all building permit applications for compliance with zoning ordinance provisions.
b. It shall be a violation of these regulations for any person to change or permit a change in the use of land, buildings or structures, or to erect, alter, move or improve any building or structure, until a building permit has been obtained from the office of the City Clerk, under the terms set forth in the code of ordinances of the city and the National Building Code adopted by the city.
c. The requirement for a building permit shall not, however, apply to the use or construction of farm buildings for agricultural purposes or the planting of agricultural crops.
2. Uses and structures permitted on review. Certain uses and structures listed in each zoning district as “uses and structures permitted on review” shall be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council under the following procedures.
a. An application for a “use permitted on review” shall be filed with the Planning Commission, through the office of the City Clerk.
b. The fee for filing such application shall cover the costs related to such application (including the costs of publication and mailing of notice for the public hearing), as determined by the City Clerk and Building Official upon immediate review of the application, and shall be payable to the City Clerk upon the filing of said application. The fee schedule shall be approved by motion of the City Council prior to its initial use by the City Clerk; subsequent changes in the fee schedule due to increases in mailing or publication costs, may be made automatically by the City Clerk.
c. This application shall contain the location and intended use of the site, the names of all property owners and the types of existing land uses within 300 feet of the site and any other pertinent material required by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
d. The City Clerk shall notify the Building Official and the Chairperson of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the application, and cause the application to be placed on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
e. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold one or more public hearings thereon, giving adequate and legal notice to all adjacent property owners and community residents.
f. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall, within 45 days of the date of application, transmit to the City Council its report as to the effect of such proposed structure or use upon the character of the neighborhood, traffic conditions, public utilities and other matters pertaining to the general welfare, as well as the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission concerning the approval or denial of the application. Persons in attendance at the Commission’s public hearing(s) shall be informed at that time of the probable meeting date at which the City Council will consider the approval or denial of the application. The City Council may subsequently authorize or deny the issuance of a building permit for the use or structure requested in the application.
3. Rezoning or zoning ordinance amendment applications.
a. Any person, firm or corporation having a proprietary interest in any property may petition the City Council for a change or amendment to the provisions of the zoning ordinance by obtaining, filling out and filing a formal application for rezoning or zoning ordinance amendment with the City Clerk.
b. The fee for filing such application shall include the notice and publication costs of such application, as determined by the appropriate fee schedule approved by the City Council, and shall be payable to the City Clerk upon the filing of said application.
c. The City Clerk shall notify the Building Official and the Chairperson of the Planning and Zoning Commission and cause said application to be placed on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
d. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall consider any rezoning ordinance amendment application at a regular, public meeting, prior to making and submitting recommendations to the City Council.
e. No rezoning, amendment, change or supplement shall become effective until a public hearing shall have been held at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard.
f. Notice of public hearing (to include the time and place of such hearing) shall be given at least 20 days prior to such hearing by publication in the official newspaper of the city, and in addition to publication, notice shall also be given by mailing written notice signed by the Secretary of the Planning and Zoning Commission to all owners of property within a 300-foot radius of the exterior boundary of the subject property. Such notice shall be mailed not less than 20 days before the date set for hearing and the notice shall contain:
(1) Legal description of the property and the street address or approximate location in the city;
(2) Present zoning classification of the property and the classification sought by the applicant; and
(3) Date, time and place of public hearing.
g. Public hearings shall be held by the City Council.
h. In the event of a protest against a proposed rezoning or request for amendment or supplement, filed more than three days prior to said public hearing by the owners of 20% or more of the area of the lots included in such proposed change, or by the owners of 50% or more of the area of the lots immediately abutting any side of the property included in such proposed change, or separated therefrom only by an alley or street less than 300 feet wide, such amendment shall not be effective except by the favorable vote of four-fifths of the members of the City Council.
i. The City Council or the Planning and Zoning Commission may, from time to time, initiate studies or proposals for changes or amendments to the zoning ordinance, provided that they are in the public interest, and provided also that, before taking action on any such study or proposal, the City Council shall have submitted the same to the Planning and Zoning Commission for its recommendations.
j. All amendments, changes, supplements or rezonings shall become final and effective upon passage and publication of an ordinance indicating said amendment, change, supplement or rezoning.
4. Use of the provisions of any of the special districts. The City Council, acting subsequent to review and recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission, is hereby authorized to use the provisions of any of the special districts (P-1 Planned Redevelopment District; P-2 Planned Unit Development District; and C-2 Special Commercial District) provided in this chapter, subject to the conditions listed below. The primary purpose for using such districts shall always be to provide for, and encourage, flexibility in the design and development of structures and subdivision in order to promote the most appropriate use of land, to facilitate the adequate, efficient and economical provision of streets and utilities, and to preserve the natural and scenic qualities of open lands. The conditions under which applications for such projects will be considered are as follows:
a. The owner-developer make written application to the Planning and Zoning Commission, through the City Council for the use of a special district;
b. The Planning and Zoning Commission determines that such application would serve to benefit the city;
c. Where such procedure shall involve lands zoned for residential purposes, its application shall result in a permitted number of dwelling units which shall in no case exceed the number which could be permitted, in the Planning, and Zoning Commission’s judgment, if the land were subdivided into lots conforming to the minimum lot size and density requirements of the zoning ordinance applicable to the district(s) in which such land is situated.
d. The proposed site plan, including areas within which structures may be located, the height and spacing of buildings, open spaces and their landscaping, off-street open and enclosed parking spaces, and streets, driveways and all other physical features as shown on said plan or otherwise described, accompanied by a statement setting forth the nature of such modifications, changes or supplementations of existing zoning provisions as are not shown on said site plan, shall be subject to review and public hearing by the Planning and Zoning Commission in the same manner as set forth in this section.
e. Where a new or unlisted use shall develop, the application shall contain a statement of facts listing the nature of the use, the amount of activity involved, type of product involved (if any), storage requirements, anticipated employment, transportation requirements (if any), the amount of noise, odor, fumes, dust, toxic material or vibration likely to be generated and the general requirements for public utilities.
5. Nonconforming uses and structures.
a. A nonconforming use or structure shall exist when the following conditions are present:
(1) When a use does not conform to the regulations prescribed in the zoning district in which it is located and was in existence and lawfully operating prior to the effective date of this zoning chapter, or any amendment thereto which creates nonconformity and where there has been no discontinuance of the use or a period of time 90 days; or
(2) When, on the effective date of this chapter, or any subsequent amendment which creates nonconformity, a structure was in existence and lawfully constructed, and which structure does not conform to the regulations herein prescribed for the zoning district in which it is located.
b. If a structure occupied by a nonconforming use is destroyed by fire, the elements or other cause (in whole or part), reconstruction will be permitted but the size or function of the nonconforming use cannot be expanded so as to create a greater degree of nonconformity than previously existed.
c. The failure of an existing structure to comply with the area standards for yards, lot area, open space coverage, height or vehicle parking shall be interpreted as a nonconformity of structure, but such nonconformity shall not be a basis for refusal of a permit to alter, improve or reconstruct such existing structure so long as such alteration, improvement or reconstruction does not increase the degree of nonconformity existing prior to such action.
6. Violations and penalties. A violation of this section shall be deemed an offense and shall be punishable by fine. Any person, firm or corporation who violates or refuses to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not more than $35 for each offense. Each day upon which a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.