(A) Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall hear appeals, variances, amendments, and other matters arising under this chapter, and shall perform such other duties as the City Council may prescribe.
(B) Appeals. Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Building & Zoning Official in any matter related to the interpretation or enforcement of any provision of this chapter may appeal to the Planning Commission.
(1) Filing, stay of further proceedings.
(a) Every appeal shall be made within 30 days of the matter complained of by filing with the Building & Zoning Official a written notice on a prescribed form specifying the grounds for appeal. Thereupon, the Building & Zoning Official shall promptly transmit all pertinent records to the Planning Commission.
(b) An appeal stays all further action on the matter being appealed unless the Building & Zoning Official certifies to the Planning Commission, after the notice of appeal has been filed, that for reasons stated in the certificate, a stay would cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, further action shall not be stayed unless the Planning Commission or the Circuit Court grants a restraining order for due cause, and so notifies the Building & Zoning Official.
(2) Public hearing; notice. The Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing on every appeal within 45 days after the filing of the appeal notice. At the hearing, any interested party may appear and testify, either in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney. Notice indicating the time, date, and place of hearing, and briefly describing the nature of the hearing, shall be given not more than 30 nor less than 15 days before the hearing by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within this municipality.
(3) Action by Planning Commission. Not later than ten days after the public hearing, the Planning Commission shall submit their recommendation/findings of fact in writing to the City Council. The Planning Commission shall not recommend any appeal unless they find that it is in the public interest and not merely for the benefit of the party appealing.
(4) Decision by the City Council. The City Council shall act on every proposed appeal at their next regularly scheduled meeting. The City Council may approve, wholly or partly, may modify or amend, or may not approve the Planning Commission's recommendation from the extent and in the manner they deem appropriate. Such decision shall be in the form of a resolution and be binding upon the Building & Zoning Official.
(C) Variances. A variance is a relaxation of the requirements of this chapter that are applicable to a particular graphic.
(1) Application. Every application for a graphic variance shall be filed with the Building & Zoning Official on a prescribed form. The Building & Zoning Official shall promptly transmit said application to the Planning Commission. The application shall contain sufficient information to allow the Commission to make an informed recommendation, and shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(a) Name and address of applicant;
(b) Location of the graphic for which the variance is sought;
(c) Name and address of the property owner upon which the graphic may be located;
(d) Explanation of the grounds for the variance request;
(e) Specific section(s) of this chapter containing the regulations which, when applied, would cause the problem;
(f) A site plan, sketch or other graphic, illustrating the proposed graphic; and
(g) Any other pertinent information that the Building & Zoning Official may require.
(2) Public hearing notice. The Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing on each variance request within 45 days after the variance application is submitted to them. At the hearing any interested party may appear and testify, either in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney. Notice indicating the time, date, and place of the hearing, and the nature of the proposed variance shall be given not more than 30 nor less than 15 days before the hearing:
(a) By first-class mail to the applicant and to all owners of property contiguous to the property affected by the proposed variance.
(b) By publication in a newspaper of general circulation within this municipality.
(3) Action by Planning Commission. Not later than ten days after the public hearing, the Planning Commission shall submit their recommendation/findings of fact in writing to the City Council. The Planning Commission shall not recommend any proposed variance unless they find that it is consistent with the general purposes of the chapter, and that the strict application of requirements would result in great practical difficulties or hardship to the applicant.
(4) Standards for variances. The Planning Commission shall not recommend any graphic variance unless, based upon the evidence presented to them, they determine that:
(a) The proposed variance is consistent with the spirit and purpose of this chapter and will not cause injury to the area in which the graphic is/will be located or be detrimental to the public welfare in any way;
(b) The proposed variance is the minimum deviation from such requirements that will alleviate the difficulties/hardship while protecting the broader public interest;
(c) The plight of the applicant is due to peculiar circumstances not of his/her own making; and
(d) The peculiar circumstances of the variance request are not applicable to other graphics in the city, and therefore, that a variance would be a more appropriate remedy than an amendment.
(5) Decision by the City Council. The City Council shall act on every proposed variance at their next regularly scheduled meeting. The City Council may approve, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend, or may not approve the Planning Commission's recommendation from the extent and in the manner they deem appropriate. Such decision shall be in the form of a resolution and be binding upon the Building & Zoning Official.
(D) Amendments. Any party in interest, including the Code Administrator or any member of the City Council or Planning Commission, desiring an amendment to the text of this chapter shall file a written application therefor with the Code Administrator.
(1) Application. The application shall fully explain the grounds for the requested amendment and specify the section(s) of this chapter that, if strictly applied, would cause great practical difficulties or hardship. The Code Administrator shall prepare an advisory report on every application for amendment and submit it, together with the completed application, to the Planning Commission.
(2) Public hearing, notice. Within 60 days of application for an amendment to the text of this chapter, the Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing. At the hearing, any interested party may appear and testify, either in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney. Notice indicating the time, date and place of the hearing, and the nature of the proposed amendment shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the city, not more than 30 days, nor less than 15 days before the hearing date:
(a) At the same time, a copy of the notice shall be sent by first class mail to the applicant.
(3) Action by the Planning Commission. Within 30 days following the conclusion of the public hearing, the Planning Commission shall prepare and submit to the City Council an advisory report, responsive to the following standards:
(a) The proposed amendment is consistent with the general purposes of this chapter;
(b) The peculiar circumstances engendering the amendment request are applicable to many tracts and, therefore, that a variation would not be a more appropriate remedy than an amendment; and
(c) The amendment, if granted, will not substantially impair implementation of the comprehensive plan, including the official map.
(4) Action by the City Council. At the next regularly scheduled meeting following receipt of the advisory report from the Planning Commission, the City Council shall act on the request for amendment.
(a) Without another public hearing, the City Council may vote to either pass or reject the proposed amendment, may pass a modified version of the amendment, or may refer it back to the Planning Commission for further consideration.
(b) If the Council votes to pass the amendment or a modified version thereof, it shall do so by ordinance at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
(Ord. 2014-02, passed 1-21-2014; Ord. 2016-05, passed 3-21-2016)