(A) Amendments; public hearing; annexed areas.
(1) These regulations, restrictions, and provisions and the boundaries of the districts may from time to time be amended, supplemented, changed, modified, or repealed by the County Commissioners. Any person or officer, department, board, commission, or bureau of the county may petition for such change or amendment; however, no such change or amendment shall become effective until ten days after at least one public hearing in relation thereto, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. The county shall publish notice of the time and place of a public hearing, together with a summary of the proposed regulation, restriction, or boundary, in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county once each week for two successive weeks.
(2) In the event any area is annexed by an incorporated town or municipality, upon receipt of a copy of the annexation resolution of the incorporated town or municipality and a certification from the incorporated town or municipality that no further legal action is possible to prevent the annexation resolution from becoming fully effective, the County Commissioners shall immediately thereafter cause a change in the official Zoning Maps without regard to the procedures or regulations set forth in § 158.134.
(B) Referral to Planning Commission.
(1) The County Commissioners shall refer all proposed changes and amendments to these regulations or amendments to Chapter 155 or Chapter 158 or proposed changes in a zoning district or Zoning Map to the Planning Commission for review and comment.
(2) The Planning Commission shall study zoning, its development, application, and relation to public and private development and its relation to other phases of the Master Plan for the development and may, from time to time, submit amendments to these regulations or changes in the district boundaries to the Commissioners of the county. However, no such amendment or change shall become effective until approved by the County Commissioners, as required by this subchapter.
(C) Factors and process to be considered by the County Commissioners for change of zoning classification on a specific property (piecemeal rezoning).
(1) A petition to change the zoning of a specific property shall be filed with the Department of Planning or its successor agency.
(2) The property shall be:
(a) Posted at least 14 days before the hearing date; and
(b) The county shall publish notice of the time and place of the public hearing, together with a summary of the proposed change, in one newspaper of general circulation in the county once each week for two successive weeks.
(3) Where the purpose and effect of the proposed amendment is to change the zoning classification, the local legislative body shall make findings of fact that include the following matters:
(a) Population change;
(b) The availability of public facilities;
(c) Present and future transportation patterns;
(d) Compatibility with existing and proposed development for the area;
(e) The recommendation of the Planning Commission; and
(f) The relationship of the proposed amendment to the county’s Master Plan.
(4) The County Commissioners may grant the amendment to change the zoning classification based on a finding that there was:
(a) A substantial change in the character of the neighborhood where the property is located; or
(b) A mistake in the existing zoning classification.
(5) The County Commissioners shall keep a complete record of the hearing and the votes of all members.
(6) If a petition for a change in a zoning district boundary has been filed, and is withdrawn by the petitioner, after the Planning Commission has caused its staff to render a report thereon, or if the County Commissioners declines to rezone the property after a hearing thereon, no new petition for a change of zoning for all or part of the same property may be filed within one year of the date the applicant withdraws the petition or the action of the County Commissioners to decline to rezone becomes final.
(7) Every application for a change in zoning of district boundaries shall be accompanied by a scale drawing, showing the existing and proposed boundaries and such other information as may be needed to properly locate and plat the amendment on the official Zoning Maps. All plats shall be submitted on a labeled CD-ROM in a digital format compatible with the county’s current geographic information system.
(8) A filing fee shall be charged for processing an application for a change in zoning, as may be determined by the County Commissioners of the county.
(D) Comprehensive rezoning.
(1) The County Commissioners or staff may recommend for review the entire county or a geographic portion thereof for a comprehensive rezoning. Any such rezoning shall be referred to the Planning Commission for review and comment. No such change shall take effect until ten days after at least one public hearing has been held by the County Commissioners where parties in interest and citizens have had an opportunity to be heard.
(2) The county shall publish notice of the time and place of the public hearing, together with a summary of the proposed change, in one newspaper of general circulation in the county once each week for two successive weeks.
(Ord. 2019-06, passed 12-12-2019)