(A) Authority. Town Council, from time to time, may amend, supplement, or change by ordinance the boundaries of the zoning districts or the use district classifications of individual properties on the Official Zoning Map, or the text of the regulations herein established.
(B) General procedures.
(1) Any request to amend, change, or supplement the Zoning Regulations shall first be submitted to the Office of the Zoning Administrator not less than 28 days prior to the meeting at which it is to be considered by the Planning Commission; provided, however, that if such amendment, change or supplementation involves the text or map of a development agreement proposed or adopted pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 157, the submittal deadline shall be 56 days prior to the Planning Commission meeting at which it will be considered.
(2) The Zoning Administrator shall check the application and submit it to the Planning Commission following public hearing notice and posting of the property in the case of a zoning or rezoning request, for consideration at the first regularly scheduled meeting at which the matter may be heard.
(3) Only one application for an amendment, supplement or change pertaining to the same subject matter of the text of the regulations or for the same property in the case of a map amendment may be considered at a time.
(4) An impact assessment shall be required with any application to change or amend the Zoning Regulations, if the proposed development plan is not in compliance with the future land use recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan and meets the conditions of large scale projects as stated in § 156.054; provided however, that:
(a) Requests for zoning of property proposed for annexation or rezoning requests for property located within the municipal limits that are in compliance with the future land use recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan, and for which no specific development plan is contemplated, do not require submittal for impact assessment approval in conjunction with the zoning/rezoning request; or
(b) If a specific development plan is contemplated that will require impact assessment approval, the impact assessment may be submitted in conjunction with the zoning/rezoning request and will be considered in conjunction with such request.
(5) Upon receipt of the application, the Commission shall hold a public hearing, and from the closing date of the public hearing shall have 30 days in which to submit a report and recommendation on the matter to Town Council. Additionally, no public hearings by the Commission shall be extended for more than a period of 30 days: once public hearings begin, they must be closed no later than 30 days from the commencement date.
(6) If the Commission fails to submit the referenced report and recommendation to Town Council within the required 30 days, it shall be deemed to have approved the request.
(C) Commission report. The Commission shall prepare its report and recommendations on the proposed change, stating its findings and its evaluation of the request. In making its report, the Commission shall consider the following factors:
(1) The relationship of the request to the Comprehensive Plan;
(2) Whether the request violates or supports the Comprehensive Plan;
(3) Whether the uses permitted by the proposed change would be appropriate in the area concerned;
(4) Whether adequate public school facilities, roads, and other public services exist or can be provided to serve the needs of the development likely to take place as a result of such change, and the consequences of such change;
(5) Whether the proposed change is in accordance with any existing or proposed plans for providing public water supply and sanitary sewers to the area;
(6) The amount of vacant land currently classified for similar development in the vicinity and elsewhere in the town, and any special circumstances that may make a substantial part of such vacant land unavailable for development;
(7) Whether the proposed change is consistent with the land development regulations of town.
(D) Declaration of policy. As a matter of policy no request to change the text of the Zoning Regulations or the map shall be acted upon favorably, except:
(1) Where necessary to implement the Comprehensive Plan; or
(2) To correct an original mistake, a manifest error in the regulations or map; or
(3) To recognize substantial change or changing conditions or circumstances in a particular locality; or
(4) To recognize changes in technology, the style of living, or manner of doing business.
(E) Procedures regarding public hearing and notice.
(1) Withdrawal of an amendment application by the applicant or owner prior to the advertisement for its public hearing or posting of the property shall be considered as a termination of the application.
(2) Resubmission of applications shall be processed as a new application with prescribed fees and all other requirements met.
(3) Postponement requests and/or withdrawals of amendment applications that occur between the time of published advertisement of the public hearing or posting of the property and the public hearing proceedings shall be treated as a request denial.
(4) Reapplication shall be subject to a one- year waiting period, unless granted a waiver by Council, as prescribed elsewhere in this section.
(5) In either case amendment processing shall terminate upon receipt of written notice from the applicant or owner.
(F) Action by Council.
(1) Following the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the Council shall rule on the request, and direct the Zoning Administrator and applicant accordingly.
(a) If the Town Council feels that the circumstances of the case warrant a public hearing, then they may vote to hold one.
(b) Council may defer the matter for further consideration or remand the matter back to its Planning Committee or Planning Commission for further study and recommendation.
(2) If the ruling is negative, the same request may not be initiated on the same parcel or any part thereof for a period of 12 months, irrespective of change(s) in ownership;
(a) Provided, however, after receipt of written petition by the property owner stating how conditions have changed substantially in the community since prior consideration of the petitioner's proposal so as to justify another review, Council may, on a case- by-case basis, waive the waiting period requirements by a vote of a majority of members present and voting in favor, and direct the staff in writing to process the application.
(b) Denial of the petition shall be final, and the one-year waiting period shall be met before further consideration of a change in land classification.
(c) Resubmission of amendment applications shall be processed as a new application with prescribed fees.
(3) After a period of six months, if readings of the zoning request are not finalized, the request becomes null and void, rescinding any Town Council action on the request.
(4) Any further Council action on the same request that has been denied or expires requires a public hearing by the Planning Commission before Town Council acts upon subsequent readings of the amending ordinance.
('81 Code, § 155.25) (Ord. passed 8-13-79; Am. Ord. passed 11-17-92; Am. Ord. 96022, passed 5-14-96; Am. Ord. 99012, passed 4-21-99; Am. Ord. 02024, passed 6-11-02; Am. Ord. 07062, passed 11-13-07; Am. Ord. 09055, passed 8-12-09: Am. Ord. 10071, passed 12-14-10; Am. Ord. 14047, passed 8-12-14; Am. Ord. 15042, passed 6-9-15)