The Chicago plan commission shall be the agency responsible for the administration of the Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance and shall have the following powers and duties in addition to those powers and duties presently contained within the Municipal Code of Chicago:
(a) To receive from any applicant or public agency an application, on such forms as the commission may provide, to undertake any landfill, excavation, impoundment, mining, drilling, roadway building or construction regulated by this chapter and receive for any public agency an application, on such forms as the commission may provide, to acquire or dispose of property regulated by this chapter; to review, approve or disapprove of application; provided, that (1) a public hearing is noticed and held in accordance with the provisions of subparagraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) hereof, and (2) a written report is prepared and filed with the commission by the commissioner of the department of planning and development in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-4-110 hereof. The forms provided by the commission shall not require detailed working drawings or plans.
(b) Within seven days from the date of receipt of said application, the commission shall schedule a public hearing on the question of same setting forth a date within 60 days thereof, time and place and causing written notice to be given the transmitting public agency and the applicant. The commission shall cause a legal notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Chicago setting forth the nature of the hearing, the property involved and the date, time and place of the scheduled public hearing. Said public hearing shall be scheduled on a date not less than 15 days nor more than 30 days from the date of publication of notice.
(c) In addition to the notice requirements hereinabove provided, each applicant subject to the provisions hereof shall, not more than 30 days before filing said application, serve written notice, either in person or by regular mail (provided the applicant prepares a written affidavit attaching a list of all owners to whom any such regular mail written notice was sent), on the owners of all property within 250 feet in each direction of the lot line of the subject property, said owners being such persons or entities which appear from the authentic tax records of Cook County; provided, that the number of feet occupied by all public roads, streets, alleys and other public ways shall be excluded in computing the 250-foot requirement; provided further, that in no event shall this requirement exceed 400 feet. Said notice shall contain the address of the subject property, a brief statement of the nature of the application, the name and address of the applicant and the statement that the applicant intends to file said application on an approximate date. If, after a bona fide effort to determine such address by the applicant, the owner of the property on which the notice is served cannot be found at his or its last known address or the mailed notice is returned because the owner cannot be found at the last known address, the notice requirements of this provision shall be deemed satisfied. In addition to serving the notice herein required, at the time of filing application, the applicant shall furnish to the commission a complete list containing the names and last known addresses of the owners of the property required to be served, the method of service employed and the names and addresses of the persons so served and said applicant shall also furnish a written statement to the commission certifying that the requirements hereof have been complied with. The commission shall hear no application unless the applicant furnishes the list and certificate herein required.
(d) The commission shall conduct the public hearing as provided by subparagraph (b) hereof and shall provide a reasonable opportunity for all interested parties to express their opinions under such rules and regulations as the commission shall adopt for the purpose of governing the applications and proceedings of the commission. Each speaker at any hearing shall be fully identified as to name, address and interests which he represents. Said public hearings shall be concluded within 30 days after commencement thereof; provided, however, that the commission may grant such extensions of time as the applicant may request, said extensions of time to be deemed waiver of the 30-day period herein provided to the extent of the continuance granted.
(e) The commission shall make a determination with respect to the proposed application, plan, design or proposal in writing within 30 days after the hearings are concluded and shall notify the forwarding public agency and the applicant of the commission's approval or disapproval thereof, setting forth findings of fact constituting the basis for its decision. The decision of the Chicago plan commission shall be made in conformity with the purposes for which this chapter is adopted as set forth in Section 16-4-030 hereof, as well as the Fourteen Basic Policies contained in the Lakefront Plan of Chicago adopted by the city council on October 24, 1973. The decision of the Chicago plan commission shall be deemed a final order and binding upon all parties. Failure of the commission to make a determination within the time hereinabove prescribed shall be deemed a disapproval.
(f) Whenever possible and practicable any hearings required by law to be held by the commission affecting the same property shall be held concurrently.
(Prior code § 194B-6.1; Amend Coun. J. 12-11-91, p. 10936; Amend Coun. J. 10-4-06, p. 88405, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. VII, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-17-10, p. 106597, Art. IX, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-13, p. 67481, Art. I, § 25)