(a) Planning Board. The Planning Board shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by City Council for terms of three (3) years on a rotating basis from and among the qualified electors of the City. Members of the Planning Board shall not hold any other City office.
(1) The Planning Board may make recommendations to the City Manager and City Council on all matters affecting the physical growth and development of the City, shall be consulted on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the implementation or amendment thereof, and shall exercise all other responsibilities as may be provided by the City Charter or by ordinance, including, but not limited to, this Zoning Code.
(2) Meetings of the Planning Board shall be held at the call of the Board Chair and at such other times as the Planning Board may determine.
(3) The Planning Board shall adopt rules of procedure and shall keep a record of its proceedings, recording the vote upon each question, and shall also keep records of its hearings and other official actions.
(4) Findings of fact and the reasons for the action shall be included in the minutes of each case. Actions of the Planning Board shall be a public record and all meetings of the Planning Board shall be open to the public except in those instances when the Planning Board is acting in a quasi-judicial manner, in which case the Planning Board shall conduct a record hearing and may deliberate in private, and any matters permitted to be closed to the public under applicable Ohio law.
(b) Amendments to the Zoning Code and Map.
(1) Petitions for amendments to the Zoning Code or Zoning Map shall be made to the Planning Board by the Development Services Department, any member of the Planning Board, any member of City Council, the City Manager, or any citizen elector of the City, or if a petition for a Zoning Map amendment, by any of the aforementioned and by one or more owners of property within the area proposed to be amended.
(2) The Planning Board shall select a time, place and date for the public hearing on any such amendment application and shall publish the notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation of the City once at least twenty-one (21) days prior to the hearing, and shall provide written notice thereof to all owners of property located within two hundred and fifty (250) feet of any property affected by the proposed amendment to the Zoning Map.
(c) Conditional Uses. The Planning Board shall review and approve the establishment or material change in conditional uses.
(1) Expansions, enlargements, and substitutions of non-conforming uses, structures and lots shall be reviewed as conditional uses for purposes hereof.
(2) The Planning Board shall give due regard to the nature and condition of all adjacent uses and structures and in authorizing a conditional use may impose such requirements and conditions, in addition to those expressly stipulated in this Zoning Code, as it may deem necessary for the protection of adjacent properties and the public interest.
(3) In approving a conditional use, the Planning Board may impose conditions as may be necessary to comply with the standards set forth herein to reduce or minimize potential injurious affects upon neighboring properties and to carry out the general purpose and intent of this Zoning Code.
(4) A conditional use shall become null and void at the end of twelve (12) months from date on which the Planning Board approves the conditional use, unless within such time period the applicant applies for and obtains a zoning permit from the Zoning Administrator.
(5) The Planning Board shall not recommend a conditional use unless it, in each specific case, makes specific findings of fact directly based upon credible evidence as to all of the following:
A. The establishment, maintenance or operation of the conditional use will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, morals or general welfare;
B. The conditional use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted, or will not substantially diminish and impair property value within the neighborhood;
C. The establishment of the conditional use will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted in the district;
D. Adequate utilities, access roads, drainage and other necessary facilities have been or are being provided;
E. Adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress and egress so designed to minimize traffic congestion in the public streets; and
F. The conditional use will be located in a district where such use is permitted and that all requirements set forth in this Zoning Code and applicable to such conditional use will be met.
(d) Planned Developments. The Planning Board shall review and approve, in conjunction with City Council, all applications for Planned Unit Developments in accordance with approval procedures set forth under Chapter 1123: Planned Unit Development District.
(e) Decisions of the Planning Board.
(1) The Planning Board may, by a vote of not less than a simple majority of the members present at a meeting:
A. Recommend that the proposed amendment to the Zoning Map or Zoning Code be approved as requested; or
B. Recommend that the proposed amendment to the Zoning Map or Zoning Code be approved with conditions; or
C. Recommend denial of the proposed amendment to the Zoning Map or Zoning Code.
(2) The recommendation shall be forwarded to City Council within 30 days of the Planning Board's vote, after which a public hearing shall be held by City Council in accordance with its rules of procedure.
(f) Appeals of Planning Board Decisions of Conditional Uses. A person or persons aggrieved may appeal a decision of the Planning Board or a Conditional Use Application by filing a complete application for appeal to the BZA within 30 days of the written decision of the Planning Board. The BZA's decision shall be appealable under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2506.
(Ord. 34-17. Effective 12-7-17; Ord. 21-19. Passed 4-1-19.)