A. Hearing Required: After the planning board makes its recommendation, the governing body shall hold a public hearing on the subdivision application.
B. Public Comments And Documents: All comments and documents regarding the subdivision shall be submitted to the subdivision administrator, rather than to the governing body directly, to be forwarded by the subdivision administrator to the governing body;
C. Consideration Of Public Comments Or Documents: The governing body shall determine whether public comments or documents presented for consideration at the public hearing constitute either:
1. Information or analysis of information that was presented at the planning board hearing on the subdivision application that the public has had a reasonable opportunity to examine and on which the public has had a reasonable opportunity to comment, in which case, the governing body may proceed to its decision whether to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the proposed subdivision; or
2. New information or analysis of information that has never been submitted as evidence or considered by the planning board at a hearing on the subdivision application, in which case the governing body shall proceed as set forth in subsection D of this section.
D. Relevancy And Credibility: If the governing body determines that public comments or documents presented at the hearing constitute new information or an analysis of information regarding the subdivision application that has never been submitted as evidence or considered by the planning board at the public hearing on the subdivision application, the governing body shall determine whether the public comments or documents are relevant and credible with regard to their decision, pursuant to subsections E and F of this section.
1. If the governing body determines the information or analysis of information is either not relevant or not credible, then the governing body shall approve, conditionally approve, or deny the proposed subdivision without basing its decision on the new information or analysis of information; or
2. If the governing body determines the new information or analysis of information is relevant and credible, then they shall schedule or direct the planning board to schedule a subsequent public hearing pursuant to section 12-6-8 of this chapter.
3. At the subsequent hearing, the planning board or governing body shall consider only the new information or analysis of information that may have an impact on the findings and conclusions that the governing body will rely upon in making its decision on the proposed subdivision.
E. Relevant: New information or analysis of information is considered to be relevant if it may have an impact on the findings and conclusions that the governing body will rely upon in making their decision on the proposed subdivision.
F. Credible: New information or analysis of information is considered to be credible if it is based on one or more of the following:
1. Physical facts or evidence;
2. Corroborated personal observations;
3. Evidence provided by a person with professional competency in the subject matter; or
4. Scientific data. (Ord. 784, 8-6-2007)