(a) Council may, from time to time, on its own motion or on petition, after public notice and hearing, amend the regulations and districts established in this Zoning Code. Every such proposed amendment shall be referred by Council to the Planning and Zoning Commission for report. The Commission's report must contain either the approval, disapproval or the conditional approval of such amendment. Any such amendment that has failed to receive the approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission shall not be passed by Council except by a three-fourths vote.
(b) If a protest against such amendment is presented, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of twenty percent of the land within such area proposed to be altered, such amendment shall not be passed except by a two-thirds vote of the members of Council.
(c) If such amendment will transfer an area to a less restricted use, height or area district and a protest is presented, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of twenty percent of the land adjacent to and within 200 feet from such area proposed to be transferred and within a more restricted use, height or area district than the district in which such area is proposed to be transferred, such amendment shall not be passed except by a two-thirds vote of the members of Council.
(d) Whenever the owners of fifty percent of the land in any area present a petition to Council, duly signed and acknowledged, requesting an amendment of the regulations prescribed for such area, it shall be the duty of Council to vote upon such amendment within ninety days of the filing of same by the petitioners with the Clerk of Council.
(e) If any area is hereafter transferred to another district by a change in the district boundaries or by amendment as provided in this section, the provisions of this Zoning Code with regard to buildings or premises existing at the time of the passage of the Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance 2812, passed November 13, 1922) shall apply to buildings or premises existing in such transferred area at the time of the passage of such amendment.
(Ord. 2812. Passed 11-13-22; Ord. 102-1988. Passed 5-16-88.)
Whenever either Council or the City Planning and Zoning Commission has held a public hearing and denied a petition for an amendment to the Zone Map adopted by the Zoning Ordinance, or a variance to the existing zoning, or a use district exception, action by the Planning and Zoning Commission on any subsequent petition filed by an owner of the property for the identical use district classification or variance, within the period of one year next after such public hearing, shall be deferred until the expiration of such one-year period.
Upon the expiration of the one-year period, the Secretary of the City Planning and Zoning Commission shall determine from the petitioner if he or she desires to prosecute such petition and if so then the City Planning and Zoning Commission shall consider the application in the same manner as an original petition. However, the City Planning and Zoning Commission may waive the provisions of this section upon the showing by the applicant that there is substantial new evidence available or that there has been a material change in the conditions or circumstances concerning such property. In such a case, the City Planning and Zoning Commission must first consider and determine by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of the Commission, at a regular or special meeting of the Commission, the question of whether or not there is substantial new evidence available or whether or not there has been a material change in the conditions or circumstances surrounding such property before the Commission can consider the application on its merits. A petition may be withdrawn by a petitioner at any time during such one-year period.
(Ord. 178-1959. Passed 9-14-59.)