SECTION VII-1. Initiative and Referendum.
   Ordinances and other measures may be proposed by initiative petition and adopted by election and ordinances and other measures adopted by the Council shall be subject to referendum, to the extent and in the manner now or hereafter provided by the Constitution, the laws of Ohio, or this Charter.
   Any initiative petition that proposes zoning regulation or zoning district changes must first be submitted to the Planning Commission and then City Council in the following manner before being certified to the election authorities for placement on the ballot for consideration by the electorate. A petition that proposes zoning regulation or district changes shall be filed with the Director of Finance. If the Director of Finance and the election authorities determine that the petition is sufficient, the Director shall within 10 days certify the sufficiency and validity of the initiative petition and transmit the certification and a certified copy of the proposed ordinance to the Council. At the next regular meeting of Council, the Council shall at once read and refer the same to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall submit its report of the proposed ordinance and its recommendations thereon to Council within 45 days of the Council’s referral. Upon receiving the report and recommendation of the Planning Commission, the Council shall hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance and shall take final action thereon within 45 days from the date of the Planning Commission’s report. If Council fails to pass the proposed ordinance, or passes it in a form different from that set forth in the petition, the committee of the petitioners may require that it be placed on the ballot for consideration by the electorate in its original form by certifying that fact to the Director of Finance within 10 days after the final action on such proposed ordinance by Council. The Director shall forthwith certify the proposed ordinance to the election authorities, and the election authorities shall place the proposed ordinance on the ballot for the approval or rejection of the electorate at the next general election occurring subsequent to 75 days from the date of that certification.
(Amended 3-2-04.)