(A) Pre-application conference and application filing. Applications for amendments to the Comprehensive Plan shall be submitted by individuals or groups of individuals to the Zoning Administrator on forms available in the Planning/Zoning Department.
(1) Prior to the submittal of an application for a Comprehensive Plan amendment, applicants shall participate in a pre-application conference scheduled with the Zoning Administrator. A pre-application conference is not required for applications submitted by the county.
(2) Applications for amendments to the Comprehensive Plan shall be submitted by individuals or groups of individuals to the Zoning Administrator on forms available in the Planning/Zoning Department.
(3) No application for a Comprehensive Plan amendment shall be accepted as complete unless it includes the required fee and the following information:
(a) Completed Comprehensive Plan amendment application signed by the current property owner(s) or applicant(s);
(b) Twenty copies of the applicant’s letter of intent explaining the objective of the proposed amendment(s) and how the criteria listed in division (F) are met;
(c) Twenty copies of the proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan based on the current Comprehensive Plan in effect and showing proposed text deletions as strike-through text and proposed text additions in bold, italic text. Proposed changes to any Comprehensive Plan map shall be illustrated in a map format similar to the existing Comprehensive Plan maps and shall be labeled as “proposed amendment;” and
(d) Any other information that the Planning Commission determines is reasonably necessary to make an informed decision as to whether the application complies with the standards of this section.
(4) Applications for Comprehensive Plan amendments shall comply with § 153.040(E), Application completeness and submission deadlines, of this code.
(5) The applicant may hold a community workshop for the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment. The purpose of a community workshop is to ensure early citizen participation in an informal forum, in conjunction with development applications, and to provide an applicant the opportunity to understand and try to mitigate any impacts an application may have on an affected community. The workshop shall ensure that citizens and property owners have an adequate opportunity to learn about applications that may affect them and to work with the applicant to resolve any concerns at this stage of the process. A community workshop is not intended to produce complete consensus on all applications, but to encourage applicants to be good neighbors. If the applicant chooses to hold a community workshop, a summary of the workshop may be submitted with the application for the Comprehensive Plan amendment.
(B) Public hearing notice. Newspaper notice of public hearing on Comprehensive Plan amendments shall be provided at least 30 calendar days before the hearing. Newspaper and parties in interest notice shall be provided in accordance with § 153.040(G) of this code.
(C) Zoning Administrator review and report. The Zoning Administrator shall review each proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment in light of the approval criteria of division (F) below and, if deemed necessary, distribute the application to other agencies and reviewers. Based on the results of those reviews, the Zoning Administrator shall provide a report on the proposed amendment to the Planning Commission. The Zoning Administrator shall have at least 30 calendar days to conduct required reviews.
(D) Planning Commission review and recommendation. The Planning Commission shall review the proposed amendment and adopt a resolution, by majority vote of the members present and voting, recommending that the Town Council approve, approve with conditions, or deny the proposed amendment, based on the approval criteria of division (F) below.
(E) Town Council hearing and decision. After receiving the recommendations of the Planning Commission, the Town Council shall hold at least one public hearing and, any time after the close of the public hearing, act to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment, based on the approval criteria of division (F) below. A majority of the entire Town Council membership shall be required to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the amendment.
(F) Approval criteria. Comprehensive Plan amendments may be approved by the Town Council only if they determine that the proposed amendment is consistent with the overall purpose and intent of the Comprehensive Plan and that any one of the following criteria has been met:
(1) There was a significant error in the original Comprehensive Plan adoption;
(2) In adopting the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Council failed to take into account facts, projections, or trends that were reasonably foreseeable to exist in the future;
(3) Events, trends, or facts after adoption of the Comprehensive Plan have changed the Town Council’s original findings made upon Plan adoption; or
(4) Events, trends, or facts after adoption of the Comprehensive Plan have changed the character or condition of an area, making the proposed amendment necessary.
(G) Final action. Comprehensive Plan amendments shall be adopted by ordinance.
(H) Notice of decision. Following final action by the Town Council, the Zoning Administrator and or the Town Clerk shall be responsible for providing the applicant with written notice of the decision.
(Ord. 2012-06, § 3.2, passed 10-18-2012; Ord. 2012-21, passed 12-20-2012; Ord. 2018-02, passed 5-17-2018)