Land use regulations, as contained in this chapter, including zoning district boundaries, may from time to time be amended, supplemented, changed, modified or repealed in the following manner.
(A) Initiation of application.
(1) Applications for a change in the chapter text or zoning map may be instituted by the Planning Board, City Council or any person except as provided in G.S. § 160D-601(d) and § 153.315(A) of this chapter.
(2) No amendment to zoning regulations or a zoning map that down-zones property shall be initiated nor is it enforceable without the written consent of all property owners whose property is the subject of the down-zoning amendment, unless the down-zoning amendment is initiated by the city. For purposes of this section, DOWN-ZONING means a zoning ordinance that affects an area of land in one of the following ways:
(a) By decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was allowed under its previous usage;
(b) By reducing the permitted uses of the land that are specified in a zonin
(B) The application for a change in a zoning district shall be made on a form provided by the city.
(1) Each non-contiguous parcel of land for which a rezoning is requested shall be considered as a separate application, and a fee (in accordance with a fee schedule established by the City Council) shall accompany each application. There shall be no fee for applications instituted by the Administrator or any city official acting on behalf of the city.
(2) Each application shall be signed and contain the following information:
(a) Applicant’s full name, address and telephone number; the property owner’s full name, address and telephone number, if different from applicant;
(b) Applicant’s interest in the property; and
(c) If the proposed change would require a change in the zoning map, the current zoning of the property and the type of zoning requested. In addition, the application shall be accompanied by an accurate and scaled diagram showing:
1. All property lines with dimensions, distances of lot from the nearest street intersection and north arrow;
2. Adjoining street rights-of-way and paving widths;
3. Zoning classification of all contiguous lots;
4. The names and addresses of all abutting property owners as shown on the most current records of the County Tax Supervisor’s office; and
5. Except for conditional rezonings, neither the Planning Board nor the City Council shall evaluate a rezoning petition based on any specific proposal for the use or development of the property. The petitioner shall refrain from using any graphic materials or descriptions before either body except for those that would apply to any use permitted in the requested zoning district.
(C) The application for a change in the text shall be on a form provided by the city and shall be accompanied by a fee (in accordance with a fee schedule established by the City Council). The application shall contain a reference to the specific section, subsection, paragraph or item proposed for change, as well as the wording of the proposed change.
(D) (1) The Planning Board shall consider no application unless it has been properly completed and submitted to the Administrator, or his or her designee, by the application deadline on the city’s website, to be reviewed at the meetings corresponding to the schedule.
(2) In no case shall the meeting at which the Planning Board initially reviewed the application occur greater than 60 days after the completed application was submitted to the Administrator. The Planning Board shall have 45 days from the date of referral to comment and submit its recommendation to the City Council. If a recommendation is not made during the 45-day period, the application shall be forwarded to the City Council without a recommendation. During the process of reviewing an amendment, the Planning Board must advise the governing board in writing whether the amendment is consistent with the adopted city’s land use plan. This can be done as part of the recommendation to the City Council in the staff report or by other means.
(E) If a petition for rezoning is proposed, the Planning Board shall consider the matter. If a recommendation is made to the City Council, it shall be as follows:
(1) Grant the rezoning as requested;
(2) Grant the rezoning with a reduction of the area requested;
(3) Grant the rezoning to more restricted general zoning district or classification(s) (but less restrictive than the existing zoning classification) as shown in division (G) below of this chapter;
(4) Grant the rezoning with a combination of divisions (E)(1), (E)(2) and (E)(3) above; or
(5) Denial of the application request.
(F) If a petition to amend the text of this chapter is proposed, the Planning Board shall consider the matter. If a recommendation is made to the City Council, it shall be as follows:
(1) Adoption of the amendment(s) as written;
(2) Adoption of the amendment as revised by the Planning Board; or
(3) Rejection of the amendment.
(G) The list of all general zoning districts in descending degrees of restrictiveness as follows:
Zoning Districts - Most Restrictive to Least Restrictive
|
Zoning Districts - Most Restrictive to Least Restrictive
|
R-25 (most restrictive) |
R-15 |
R-10 |
R-8 |
RMF |
RO |
ROS |
OI |
NB |
PB |
CBT |
CB |
GB |
GMC |
(H) A public hearing shall be held by the Planning Board and by the City Council before adoption of any proposed amendment to this chapter. Notice of each public hearing shall be given as follows:
(1) A notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the city area once a week for two successive weeks, the first notice to be published not less than ten days nor more than 25 days prior to the date established for the public hearing. In computing the time, the date of publication is not be included, but the date of the hearing shall be included.
(2) A notice shall be conspicuously placed by the city in the City Hall not less than ten days nor more than 25 days before the date established for the public hearing.
(3) A conspicuous notice shall be posted by the city in at least one conspicuous place on the subject property or on the street right-of-way near the site at least ten days prior to the public hearing. For map amendments that contain multiple parcels, sufficient notice must be posted around the site.
(4) At least ten days, but not more than 25 days prior to the public hearing, a notice of the proposed zoning change shall be sent by the city by first class mail to the owners of property subject to the proposed rezoning action and to all abutting property owners at the last addresses listed for such owners on the county tax abstracts. For the purpose of this section, properties are ABUTTING even if separated by a street, railroad, or other transportation corridor.
(5) The first class mail notice cited in division (H)(4) above may not be required if the proposed zoning action involves a zoning map amendment that directly affects more than 50 properties, owned by a total of at least 50 different property owners. In lieu of sending first class mail notice to all the affected and contiguous property owners, the city may elect to publish in a newspaper of local circulation a notice of the public hearing that includes one or maps showing the boundaries of the area affected by the proposed map amendment. The newspaper notice shall be not less than one-half of a newspaper page in size and shall be published once a week for at least two consecutive weeks. The notice shall satisfy the two advertisements published to satisfy the requirements of division (H)(1) above. Notwithstanding, affected and contiguous property owners who reside outside the circulation area of the newspaper shall be sent first class mail notice of the public hearing per division (H)(4) above.
(I) If any resident or property owner in the city submits a written statement regarding a proposed amendment, modification, or repeal to a zoning ordinance to the clerk to the City Council at least two business days prior to the proposed vote on such change, the clerk shall deliver such written statement to the city council.
(J) (1) After the City Council public hearing has been conducted and officially closed, the City Council shall render a decision concerning the proposal not later than the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. The decision of the City Council shall be limited to one of the various alternatives listed in divisions (E) and (F) of this chapter. A copy of the City Council’s decision shall be sent to the applicant by the Administrator by first class mail within five working days after the City Council’s decision.
(2) When adopting or rejecting any petition for a zoning map amendment, City Council shall approve a statement analyzing the reasonableness of the proposed rezoning. This statement of reasonableness may consider, among other factors:
(a) The size, physical conditions, and other attributes of the area proposed to be rezoned;
(b) The benefits and detriments to the landowners, the neighbors, and the surrounding community;
(c) The relationship between the current actual and permissible development on the tract and adjoining areas and the development that would be permissible under the proposed amendment;
(d) Why the action taken is in the public interest; and
(e) Any changed conditions warranting the amendment.
(3) If a zoning map amendment is adopted and the action was deemed inconsistent with the adopted plan, the zoning amendment shall have the effect of also amending the future land use map in the approved land use plan, and no additional request or application for a plan amendment shall be required.
(K) City Council members shall not vote on any legislative decision regarding a development regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter where the outcome of the matter being considered is reasonably likely to have a direct, substantial, and readily identifiable financial impact on the member. City Council members shall not vote on any zoning amendment if the landowner of the property subject to a rezoning petition or the applicant for a text amendment is a person with whom the member has a close familial, business, or other associational relationship. 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.
(L) (1) If the City Council has denied an application for the change of any zoning district or change in zoning text, it shall not, thereafter, accept any application for the same or substantively similar change of zoning districts affecting the same property or any portion thereof or for a similar change in the zoning text until the expiration of one year from the date of the previous denial.
(2) When a petition for a change in classification zoning is withdrawn prior to it being considered by the City Council, no new petition for any change in zoning classification of the same property or any part thereof may be filed by the petitioner within a period of 90 days immediately following the withdrawal of the petition.
(Prior UDO, § 20.1) (Ord. ZTA-2-2016, passed 6-2-2016; Ord. O-16-17, passed 11-2-2017; Ord. passed - - ; Ord. O-5-2024, passed 6-6-2024) Penalty, see § 153.999
Editor’s note:
Supplementary requirements for rezoning petitions to a conditional zoning district are found in § 153.316.