(A) Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is established pursuant to authority granted to the city under Minnesota Statutes. The Planning Commission shall have the review and recommendation authority as established in this chapter.
(1) Members and terms. The Planning Commission shall consist of no more than nine voting members whom shall be appointed by the City Council. All members shall be bona fide residents of the City. Members of the Planning Commission shall serve in such capacity without compensation of any manner. The term of office shall be four years. The City Council shall fill vacancies and may additionally remove members without cause by a four-fifths vote. The City Council shall appoint one voting member of the Council and may additionally identify an alternative (duration to be consistent with his/her Council term). Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term only and members may be appointed for successive terms without limitation.
(2) Quorum and voting. A quorum of the Planning Commission shall consist of five out of nine members of the regular membership. A quorum must exist before this Commission can take any official action on behalf of the city. All actions of the Planning Commission require a majority vote by a quorum of the Commission, unless otherwise set forth in this chapter. A member of the Commission may only be excused from voting on a particular issue if it has been determined that the member would have a conflict of interest or would be violating any codes of ethics.
(3) Records. The city shall keep files, record and notice of all meetings, which shall be available for public inspection.
(4) Chairperson. The Planning Commission shall elect a Chairperson from among its appointed members for the term of one year, starting in January.
(5) Meetings. The Planning Commission shall hold at least one regular meeting each month, pending the availability of agenda items.
(B) Board of Adjustment and Appeals. The Board of Adjustment and Appeals is established pursuant to authority granted to the city under Minnesota Statutes.
(1) Members and terms. The Planning Commission will serve as the Board of Adjustment and Appeals and have the powers granted under M.S. §§ 462.357, subd. 6 and 462.359, subd. 4, as they may be amended from time to time.
(3) Records. The city shall keep files, record and notice of all meetings; which shall be available for public inspection.
(4) Chairperson. Same as the Chairperson for the Planning Commission.
(5) Meetings. Request for the Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall meet as needed, based on the availability of agenda items at the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting.
(C) Appeals - applicability. An appeal shall only be applicable to an interpretation of legislative intent of provisions of this chapter. Opinions and evaluations as it pertains to the impact or result of a request are not subject to the appeal procedure.
(D) Proceedings. The Board of Adjustment and Appeals may adopt rules necessary to the conduct and processing of appeals, while maintaining consistency with the provisions of this chapter.
(E) Filing an appeal.
(1) Appeals forwarded to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals concerning interpretation or administration of this chapter must be filed with the city by the property owner or their agent within 45 days of the rendered decision.
(2) Any appeal filed shall be comprehensive and include all matters subject to question. Such appeals must be filed with the Zoning Administrator and shall specifically identify the framework of the appeal, including chapter citations, as applicable. The Zoning Administrator shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. Subsequent appeals filed by the same person which are intended to cause unjustifiable delay shall not be accepted by the city.
(F) Public hearing. Upon receipt of an application for an appeal, the Zoning Administrator shall set the time and date for the public hearing. Notice of said hearing shall consist, at minimum, of a summary description of the request, published in a newspaper of general circulation at least ten days prior to the hearing. Due notice shall be given to all property owners within a 350 foot radius of the affected property, if the application is applicable to a defined property or location within city limits. A copy of the hearing notice and a list of the property owners and addresses to which the notice was sent shall be attested and made a part of the record of the proceeding, as applicable. Failure of a property owner to receive said notice, or failure to provide mailed notice to individual property owners, or defects in the notice shall not invalidate any such proceedings as set forth within this chapter provided a bona fide attempt has been made to comply with the notice requirements of this chapter.
(G) Stay of proceedings (appeals). An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action being appealed unless it is certified to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, after the notice of appeal is filed, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would cause imminent peril to life and property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order which may be granted by a court of record on application to the city.
(H) Appeals procedure. The procedure for making such an appeal shall be as follows:
(1) The property owner or their agent shall file with the city a written notice of appeal stating the specific grounds upon which the appeal is made. The person filing the appeal shall be given written notice of a hearing date and shall be able to appear and testify at such hearing. Such hearing shall be held within 60 days of the filing of the appeal.
(2) The filing of an appeal shall be accompanied by a fee as provided for by the City Council which shall be consistent with any established fee for a variance.
(3) The ruling appealed from shall stand unless a majority of all members of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals by vote to overturn or modify the prior ruling within 60 days of the hearing.
(4) The Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall make its decision within 60 days of the hearing.
(I) Decisions.
(1) In exercising the above-mentioned powers, the Board of Adjustment and Appeals may, so long as such action is in conformity with the terms of this chapter, reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from, and may make such other requirement, decision, or determination, and to that end shall have powers of the Zoning Administrator from whom the appeal is taken.
(2) A copy of the decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall be served on the applicant by mail.
(J) Appeals from Board of Adjustment and Appeals or City Council. Any person, taxpayer, department, board or bureau of the city aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, shall have the right to seek review within 45 days of the decision with the City Council. An appeal must be filed, in writing, with the City Administrator within the 45 day period, and such written appeal shall set forth the decision appealed from and the date of that decision. Upon receiving a notice of appeal, the appeal shall be placed on the agenda of the next regular Council meeting to occur following at least 15 days from the receipt of the appeal. At that meeting the Council shall review the findings of facts and decision made by the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, as well as any documents that were furnished to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals on the matter. The Council may, but is not required to, allow the aggrieved party and the other persons to speak to the Council on the issue involved in the appeal. The City Council shall have the authority to uphold the decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals by passing a resolution adopting the findings of facts and decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, or the Council, by a vote of a majority of all the members of the Council, may reverse or modify the decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, in which case the City Council shall prepare its own findings of facts and decision on the matter appealed. In the absence of a resolution adopting the findings of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals or of a resolution reversing the decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals by a vote of a majority of all members of the Council within 45 days of the date of the initial consideration of the appeal at a Council meeting, the findings and decision of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall be deemed adopted by the City Council. Any person, taxpayer, department, board or bureau of the city aggrieved by the decision of the City Council shall have the right to seek review within 30 days of the decision with a court of record of such decision in the manner provided by the laws of the State of Minnesota, and particularly M.S. Ch. 462 as such statute may be, from time to time, amended, supplemented or replaced.
(K) Specific responsibilities. It is the intent of this chapter that all questions or interpretation and enforcement shall be first presented to the Zoning Administrator and that such questions shall be presented to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals only on appeal from the decision of the Zoning Administrator, and that recourse from the decisions of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall be forwarded to the City Council and, if necessary, to the courts as provided by law and particularly by M.S. Ch. 462.
SUMMARY TABLE OF PROCEDURES. (TABLE 9.1)
Procedure | Section | City Council | Planning Comm. | Board of Adjustment and Appeals | City staff | Zoning certificate |
Procedure | Section | City Council | Planning Comm. | Board of Adjustment and Appeals | City staff | Zoning certificate |
Planning and Zoning | ||||||
Code interpretation | § 153.025 | A | D | |||
Rezone | § 153.023 | D | R, H | R | Yes | |
Zoning amendment | § 153.023 | D | R, H | R | Yes | |
Permits and Approvals
| ||||||
Conditional use permit | § 153.022 | D | R, H | R | Yes | |
Variance | § 153.024 | A, H | D, H | R | ||
Sign permit (on-site and off-premise) | § 153.064 | A | D | Yes2 | ||
Moving permits | § 153.063 | D | R, H | R | Yes | |
Moving permits (accessory structures or single story garages outside the city limits) | § 153.063 | 1
| A1 | D1 |
Yes | |
Home occupation | § 153.070 | A | D | |||
2 As applicable, per § 153.064.
R - Review (responsible for review and/or recommendation)
D - Decision (responsible for final decision)
H - Hearing (public hearing required)
A - Appeal (authority to hear/decide appeals)
(Ord. passed - -)