A. An amendment to this ordinance text and/or map may be initiated by: City Council on its own motion; the Planning Commission; or by petition of a property owner, vested party or one with a legal interest.
B. All petitions for amendments to this ordinance shall be in writing, signed and filed with the city. At this time, the fee established by City Council shall be paid.
C. All petitions for amendments to this ordinance, without limiting the right to file additional materials, shall contain at least the following:
1. The petitioner's name, address and interest in the petition, as well as the name, address and interest of every person having a legal or an equitable interest in the land covered by the petition. The signature of each party having an interest must be presented on the application;
2. A description of the proposed amendment;
3. If the proposed amendment would require a change in the zoning map, a fully dimensioned map showing:
a. The land which would be affected by the proposed amendment;
b. A legal description of such land;
c. The present zoning classification of the land.
4. An owner may voluntarily offer in writing to use and develop land with a particular use or development as a condition to rezoning or to amendment of the zoning map relating to the land.
a. An owner willing to condition rezoning or map amendment upon use or development of the land in a particular manner may request (but shall not be required to obtain) a pre-preliminary review prior to filing a formal petition for rezoning or for map amendment.
b. The petitioner's new application request, including the proposed conditions, shall be considered by the Planning Commission during the public hearing prior to making a recommendation on the proposed request to the City Council.
c. A request for rezoning or map amendment based upon conditions shall be subject to all of the requirements and procedures set forth in Article 24 which do not conflict with this division, division C.5., and Section 32.04 H.
d. The conditions offered by the owner and accepted by the City Council as a condition of the rezoning or map amendment shall be incorporated into a written agreement approved by the owner and the city, including any site plans, elevation plans, landscape plans, signage plans, or other applicable conditions which were offered by the owner and accepted by the city as part of the conditions relating to the rezoning or map amendment. The agreement shall be recorded with the Macomb County Register of Deeds. Any approved final site plan for the proposed use or development must be consistent with the conditions of approval proposed by the owner and accepted by the City Council.
e. The owner must receive final site plan approval for the proposed use or development within 12 months of the effective date of the ordinance amendment approving the conditional rezoning or map amendment, obtain a building permit within 18 months of the effective date, and complete development of the proposed development within 30 months of the effective date. If the owner fails to proceed with development of its property in accordance with the mutually agreeable conditions, the zoning of the land reverts to its former zoning classification. This time limitation may be extended by the City Council in response to a request from the owner.
f. An owner who develops land with a development or use pursuant to a conditional rezoning or map amendment shall continuously operate and maintain the development or use in compliance with all of the terms and conditions of the conditional rezoning agreement executed by the City and the owner. Any failure to satisfy a condition of rezoning or map amendment incorporated into the written agreement shall constitute a separate violation of the Zoning Ordinance.
g. Any rezoning or map amendment approved pursuant to this conditional rezoning or map amendment procedure shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of successor owners of the land in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement.
h. The conditions of the rezoning or map amendment offered by the owner and approved by the City Council shall not be altered or added to during the specified time period except as provide in provided in division i. below.
i. Any changes to the conditions of the rezoning or map amendment shall be incorporated into a written amendment to the agreement executed by the owner and the city, which shall be recorded with the Macomb County Register of Deeds.
5. If a petition for amendment of the zoning classification of a rezoning or map amendment for a parcel of property of land is denied by the City Council, a new application requesting amendment of the current zoning classification to the same requested classification or to a more intense zoning classification shall not be accepted by the Office of Planning for a period of one year after the effective date of such denial unless:
a. Changed conditions in the surrounding neighborhood and/or vicinity are clearly evident;
b. The provisions of the zoning ordinance relating to the matter previously decided by the City Council have been amended; or
c. The new application is filed by a new property owner or party with an interest in the property.
d. The denial received by the petitioner related to a request for rezoning or map amendment based upon conditions in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section 32.00C.4. After the City Council makes a determination that such request satisfies one of the exceptions set forth in C.5.a., b., or c., the petitioner may file its application for rezoning for consideration in accordance with the procedures for zoning amendments set forth in Article 32.
e. A petitioner who wishes to submit a new application for rezoning or map amendment within the one year period after denial of a request for conditional rezoning or map amendment may do so by filing a new application for rezoning or map amendment accompanied by a new application and fee. The petitioner's new application request shall be considered by the Planning Commission which shall make a recommendation to the City Council after conducting a public hearing in accordance with the procedures applicable to requests for conventional rezoning or map amendment. A petitioner who wishes to submit a new application for rezoning or map amendment within the one year period after denial of a request for rezoning or map amendment that was considered in the conventional manner must submit correspondence demonstrating that the request meets one of the above criteria set forth in Section 32.00 C.5.a., b., or c. The City Council must determine that the petitioner's new request for rezoning or map amendment is within any of the exceptions set forth in C.5.a., b., or c. prior to acceptance of the new application by the Office of Planning and prior to conducting any public hearing.
(Ord. No. 278-CC, § 22, 6-3-03; Ord. No. 278-FF, § 5, 5-3-05)