The City Council shall consider changes and amendments to this chapter as often as necessary, provided, however, that should the City Council deny a request for a zoning amendment, it shall not thereafter accept any other petition for the same change of zoning district affecting the same property, or any portion thereof, until the expiration of one (1) year from the date of such previous denial.
Plan consistency. When adopting or rejecting any zoning text or map amendment, the City Council shall approve a brief statement describing whether its action is consistent or inconsistent with an adopted comprehensive plan. The requirement for a plan consistency statement may also be met by a clear indication in the minutes of the City Council, that at the time of action on the amendment, the City Council was aware of and considered the planning board's recommendations and any relevant portions of an adopted comprehensive plan. If the amendment is adopted and the action was deemed inconsistent with the adopted plan, the zoning amendment shall have the effect of also amending any future land use map in the approved plan and no additional request or application for a plan amendment shall be required. A plan amendment and a zoning amendment may be considered concurrently. The plan consistency statement is not subject to judicial review. If a zoning map amendment qualifies as a "large-scale rezoning" under G.S. 160D-602(b), the City Council statement describing plan consistency may address the overall rezoning and describe how the analysis and polices in the relevant adopted plans were considered in the action taken.
Members of the City Council shall not participate in or vote on any zoning amendment matter in a manner that would violate affected persons' constitutional rights to an impartial decision maker. Impermissible violations of due process include, but are not limited to, a close familial, business, or other associational relationship with an affected person, or a financial interest in the outcome of the matter. If an objection is raised to a board member's participation at or prior to the hearing or vote on that matter and that member does not recuse himself or herself, the remaining members of the board shall by majority vote rule on the objection. For purposes of this section, a close familial relationship means a spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild. The term includes the step, half, and in-law relationships.12 (G.S. 160D-109(d), (e), (f)). (Ord. of 12-7-04, No. 37-02; Ord. of 8-7-06, No. 18-06; Ord. of 6-21-21, No. 41-21)