The common development review procedures in this section shall apply to all types of development applications under this chapter, unless an exception to the common procedures is expressly noted in subsequent sections of this chapter.
A. Step 1: Pre-Application Conference:
1. Purpose: The purpose of a pre-application conference is to provide an opportunity for an informal evaluation of the applicant's proposal and to familiarize the applicant and the City staff with the applicable provisions of this title, infrastructure requirements, and any other issues that may affect the applicant's proposal. A pre-application conference is optional prior to submission of any other application under this title not listed above.
2. Pre-Application Conference Content: The City Administrator shall schedule a pre-application conference after receipt of a proper request. At the conference, the applicant, the City Administrator, and any other persons the City Administrator deems appropriate to attend shall discuss the proposed development. Based upon the information provided by the applicant and the provisions of this title, the parties should discuss in general the proposed development and the applicable requirements and standards of this title.
3. Informal Evaluation Not Binding: The informal evaluations of the City Administrator and staff provided at the conference are not binding upon the applicant or the City, but are intended to serve as a guide to the applicant in making the application and advising the applicant in advance of the formal application of issues that may be presented to the appropriate decision-making body.
4. Waiver: The City Administrator may waive the pre-application conference requirement for applications where he or she finds that the projected size, complexity, anticipated impacts, or other factors associated with the proposed development clearly, in his or her opinion, support such waiver.
5. Application Required Within Six Months: After a pre-application conference has been completed, an application must be completed within six (6) months or sooner if required by the City Administrator due to changing conditions. If an application is not filed within such timeframe, a new pre- application conference shall be required prior to filing an application.
B. Step 2: Development Application Submittal:
1. Form Of Application: Applications required under this chapter shall be submitted in a form and in such number as required by the City Administrator.
2. Authority To File Applications:
a. Unless otherwise specified in this title, applications for review and approval may be initiated by:
(1) The owner of the property that is the subject of the application;
(2) Any person authorized by the owner; or
(3) The Planning Commission or the City Council.
b. When an authorized person files an application under this title, written documentation of the authority shall be submitted with the application.
3. Development Review Fees:
a. Recovery Of Costs: Development review fees are established to recover the costs incurred by the City in processing, reviewing, and recording applications pertaining to development applications or activity within the City's boundaries. The applicable development review fees shall be paid at the time of submittal of any development application.
b. Development Review Fee Schedule: The amount of the City's development review fees shall be established by the City Council. The schedule of fees shall be reviewed annually and shall be adjusted, if necessary, by the City Administrator on the basis of actual expenses incurred by the City.
4. Waivers: The City Administrator may waive certain submittal requirements in order to reduce the burden on the applicant and to tailor the requirements to the information necessary to review a particular application. The City Administrator may waive such requirements where he or she finds that the projected size, complexity, anticipated impacts, or other factors associated with the proposed development clearly, in his or her opinion, support such waiver.
5. Additional Information: Additional application-specific information may be required by the City Administrator, Planning Commission, and/or City Council, as necessary and appropriate to evaluate fully whether an application complies with the requirements of this title.
6. Inactive Files: If an applicant fails to submit required information or request a hearing date for a period of more than six (6) months, his or her file shall become void and the resubmittal of a new application and fees shall be required. The City Administrator may grant no more than two (2) extensions of time to this provision, of no more than six (6) months each, upon a written request by the applicant.
C. Step 3: Determination Of Application Completeness: After receipt of the development application, the City Administrator shall determine whether the application is complete and ready for review.
1. If the application is determined to be complete, the application shall then be processed according to the procedures set forth in this title. An application will be considered complete if it is submitted in the required form, includes all mandatory information and supporting materials, and is accompanied by the applicable fee. A pre-application conference shall have been held, if required by this title. The determination of completeness shall not be based upon the perceived merits of the application.
2. If an application is determined to be incomplete, the City Administrator shall provide written notice to the applicant along with an explanation of the application's deficiencies. No further processing of an incomplete application shall occur until the deficiencies are corrected in a future resubmittal.
3. If any false or misleading information is submitted or supplied by an applicant on an application, that application will be deemed incomplete.
4. At any time during the review process, the City Administrator reserves the right to involve State authorities through the Construction Industries Boards, or other State inspectors or designees to review plans.
D. Step 4: Notice:
1. Content Of Notices: Notice of all public hearings required under this chapter shall, unless otherwise specified in this title:
a. Identify the date, time, and place of the public hearing;
b. If applicable, describe the property involved in the application by street address and/or by legal description and nearest cross street;
c. Describe the nature, scope, and purpose of the proposed action;
d. Indicate that interested parties may appear at the hearing and speak on the matter; and
e. Indicate where additional information on the matter may be obtained.
2. Summary Of Notice Requirements: The following table 6.2-1 summarizes the notice requirements of the procedures in this chapter.
TABLE 6.2-1
NOTICE REQUIREMENTS
NOTICE REQUIREMENTS
Type Of Application Or Procedure | Section | Mailed | Published | Posted |
Type Of Application Or Procedure | Section | Mailed | Published | Posted |
Amendments: text of this title | - | X | - | |
Amendments: rezonings | X | X | X | |
Planned unit developments | X | X | X | |
Use on review permits | X | X | X | |
Site plan review | - | - | - | |
Temporary uses | - | - | - | |
Variances | X | X | - | |
Appeals of administrative decisions | X | X | - | |
3. Mailed (Written) Notice: When table 6.2-1 of this section requires that mailed notice be provided, the applicant shall provide the City Administrator with a current list of applicable property owners and organizations as listed below, prepared and certified by a title insurance company or abstract company licensed by the State of Oklahoma, along with addressed adhesive envelope labels for each owner. The City Administrator shall deposit such notice into first class mail at least twenty (20) days prior to the scheduled date of the hearing. In computing such period, the day of mailing shall not be counted, but the day of the hearing shall be counted. Written notice shall be provided to the following persons or groups:
a. Property owners: All persons listed on the records of the County Assessor as owners of land subject to the application or as owners of the parcels within three hundred feet (300') of the outer boundary of the land subject to the application.
b. Notice to property owners for the following land uses: If the zoning change requested permits the use of treatment facilities, multiple family facilities, transitional living facilities, halfway houses and any housing or facility that may be used for medical or nonmedical detoxification as these terms are defined pursuant to 43A Oklahoma Statutes section 3-403, as amended, the applicant proposing the zoning change shall mail a written notice within thirty (30) days of the hearing to all real property owners within one-quarter (1/4) of a mile, or one thousand three hundred twenty feet (1,320'), of the outer boundary of the land subject to the application. The applicant shall be responsible for all costs incurred in mailing this notice.
4. Published Notice: If a published notice is required by table 6.2-1 of this section, the City Administrator shall publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area. The notice shall be published at least twenty (20) days before and within thirty (30) days of the scheduled hearing date. In computing such period, the day of posting shall not be counted, but the day of the hearing shall be counted.
5. Posted Notice: Posted notice, if required by table 6.2-1 of this section, shall be provided in the following manner: There shall be posting of at least one sign on the lot, parcel, or tract of land, and such sign shall remain on the property for a period of at least ten (10) days prior to the public hearing. The sign shall be posted in a prominent place, clearly visible from a major street if the property abuts such a street, or clearly visible to the most heavily traveled street or public way if the property does not abut a major street. In particular, a tract of land abutting a major street and that also abuts a residential subdivision having stubbed streets that cannot be served by the same major street serving the tract being rezoned, shall post at least one additional sign clearly visible from at least one street in the residential subdivision which is stubbed to the tract for which the rezoning is being requested.
6. Constructive Notice:
a. Minor defects in any notice shall not impair the notice or invalidate proceedings pursuant to the notice if a bona fide attempt has been made to comply with applicable notice requirements. Minor defects in notice shall be limited to errors in a legal description or typographical or grammatical errors that do not impede communication of the notice to affected parties. If questions arise at the hearing regarding the adequacy of notice, the decision-making body shall make a formal finding as to whether there was substantial compliance with the notice requirements of this title. Failure of a party to receive written notice wherein delivery was attempted shall not invalidate subsequent action.
b. When the records of the City document the publication, mailing, and posting of notices as required by this section, it shall be presumed that notice of a public hearing was given as required by this section.
E. Step 5: Staff Report: Within a reasonable time after determining that a development application is complete, the City Administrator shall refer the development application to the appropriate review agencies, review the development application, and prepare a staff report. The staff report shall be made available for inspection and copying by the applicant and the public prior to the scheduled public hearing for the development application. The staff report shall indicate whether, in the opinion of the staff, the development application complies with all applicable standards of this title. Conditions for approval may also be recommended to eliminate any areas of noncompliance or mitigate any adverse effects of the development proposal.
F. Step 6: Public Hearing: A public hearing, if required under this title, shall be conducted in accordance with the rules adopted by the City of Marlow.
G. Step 7: Decision And Findings:
1. Decision: After consideration of the development application, the staff report, comments received from other reviewers (if applicable), and the evidence from the public hearing (if applicable), the decision-maker shall approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application based on its compliance with the applicable approval criteria, as described in step 9 of the common development review procedures. Written notification of the decision shall be provided by the City Administrator to the applicant within ten (10) days after the decision.
2. Findings: All decisions shall include at the least the following elements:
a. A clear statement of approval, approval with conditions, or denial, whichever is appropriate; and
b. A clear statement of the basis upon which the decision was made, including specific, written findings of fact with reference to the relevant standards of this title.
3. Effect Of Inaction On Applications: When a review or decision- making body fails to take action on an application within the time required (which varies by type of application), such inaction shall be deemed a denial of the application, unless the decision-making body agrees to an extension of the time frame in writing.
4. Record Of Proceedings:
a. Recording Of Public Hearing: The decision-maker conducting the public hearing shall record the public hearing by any appropriate means. A copy of the public hearing record may be acquired by any person upon application to the City Administrator, and payment of a fee to cover the cost of duplication of the record.
b. The Record: The record shall consist of the following:
(1) All exhibits including, without limitation, all writings, drawings, maps, charts, graphs, photographs and other tangible items received or viewed by the decision maker at the proceedings.
(2) All minutes of the proceedings.
(3) If appealed, a verbatim transcript of the proceedings before the decision maker. The cost of the transcript shall be borne by the applicant.
(4) If available, a videotape recording of the proceedings before the decision maker.
5. Recording Of Decisions: Once approved, and after the appeal period has expired, the decision of the decision maker shall be filed with the City Clerk.
H. Step 8: Approval Criteria: To approve a development application, the decision-maker shall find that the development application has satisfied and followed the applicable requirements of this chapter and meets all of the approval criteria required for the applicable development application, which are set forth in subsequent sections of this chapter under step 9.
I. Step 9: Conditions Of Approval: The decision-maker may impose such conditions on the approval of the application as may be necessary to reduce or minimize any potential adverse impact upon other property in the area, or to carry out the general purpose and intent of this title. In such cases, any conditions attached to approvals shall be directly related to the impacts of the proposed use or development and shall be roughly proportional in both nature and extent to the anticipated impacts of the proposed use or development. No conditions of approval, except for those attached to variance or minor modification approvals, shall be less restrictive than the requirements of this title.
J. Step 10: Amendments To Permits Or Other Forms Of Approval:
1. Minor Amendments: Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, minor amendments to any permit or other form of approval issued by the City Administrator or the Planning Commission under this chapter may be approved, approved with conditions, or denied administratively by the City Administrator and may be authorized without additional public hearings. Such minor amendments may be authorized by the City Administrator as long as the development approval, as so amended, continues to comply with the standards of this title, at least to the extent of its original compliance (so as to preclude any greater deviation from the standards of this title by reason of such amendments). Minor amendments shall only consist of any or all of the following:
a. Any change to any permit or other form of approval that was originally subject only to administrative review and was approved by the City Administrator, provided such change would not have disqualified the original application from administrative review had it been requested at that time; and provided that the minor amendment does not result in an increase of more than ten percent (10%) in the amount of square footage of a land use or structure and does not result in a change in the types of uses in the project.
b. Any change to any permit or other form of approval that was originally subject to final review by the Planning Commission and was approved by the Planning Commission, provided that:
(1) The minor amendment does not result in an increase in the approved number of dwelling units;
(2) The minor amendment does not result in an increase in the amount of square footage of a nonresidential land use or structure;
(3) The minor amendment does not result in a change in the housing mix or use mix ratio; and
(4) The minor amendment does not result in a change in the character of the development.
c. In either subsection J1a or J1b of this section, the City Administrator may refer the amendment to the Planning Commission and, if so referred, the decision of the Planning Commission shall constitute a final decision, subject only to appeal as provided for in section 10-6-9 of this chapter.
2. Major Amendments: Amendments to any permit or other form of approval that are not determined by the City Administrator to be minor amendments under the criteria in subsection J1 of this section shall be deemed major amendments. Major amendments shall be reviewed and processed in the same manner as required for the original application for which amendment is sought. Any major amendments shall be recorded as amendments in accordance with the procedures established for the filing and recording of such initially approved permit or other form of approval.
K. Step 11: Lapse: If applicable, the lapse of approval time frames established by the procedures of this title may be extended only when all of the following conditions exist:
1. The provisions of this title must expressly allow the extension;
2. An extension request must be filed prior to the applicable lapse-of-approval deadline;
3. The extension request must be in writing and include justification; and
4. Unless otherwise noted, authority to grant extensions of time shall rest with the decision-making body that granted the original approval (the one being extended). (Ord. 420, 12-18-2017)