A. In the case of a proposed text amendment originating with the City Commission, the Planning Commission shall make its recommendation within sixty (60) days of the date of its receipt of the proposed amendment.
B. The Planning Commission shall make findings of fact and a recommendation for approval or disapproval of the proposed amendment to the City Commission. Before recommending to the City Commission that an application for amendment to the Official Zoning Map or Zoning Ordinance be granted, the Planning Commission, or the City Commission, must find that the amendment request is in agreement with the current Bourbon County Comprehensive Plan, or in the absence of such a finding that:
1. The original zoning classification given to the property was inappropriate or improper, and that the proposed classification is proper; or
2. That there have been major changes of an economic, physical or social nature within the area involved which were not anticipated in the Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Planning Commission and which have substantially altered the basic character of the area.
C. The Planning Commission shall also determine, as part of its findings, the suitability and compatibility of any proposed development of said property.
D. The Planning Commission shall have the power to hear and finally decide applications for variances or conditional use permits in conjunction with a requested zoning map amendment, if the proposed development requires both a map amendment and one or more variances or conditional use permits (per KRS 100.203(5)). Recommendations regarding these permits shall be a part of the record forwarded to the City Commission.
E. The findings of fact and recommendation shall include a summary of the evidence and testimony presented by the proponents and opponents of the proposed amendment. After voting to recommend that an application for amendment to the Official Zoning Map or Zoning Ordinance be granted or denied, the Planning Commission shall forward its finding of fact and recommendation in writing to the City Commission.
F. A tie vote shall be subject to further consideration by the Planning Commission for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days, at the end of which if the tie has not been broken, the application shall be forwarded to the City Commission without a recommendation for approval or disapproval.
(Ord. 2014-12, passed 7-15-14)