(A) Purpose. It is the intent of this section that a City Planning Commission be provided, which will represent the concerns of diverse citizen groups, as well as the broad interests of the community as a whole.
(Prior Code, § 5.01)
(B) Terms of office; rotation of terms.
(1) The members of the Planning Commission of the city shall each be appointed for a four-year term of office by the Mayor, subject to advice and consent by the City Council. The Mayor has the power to appoint members, with the advice and consent of the City Council, under UCA §§ 10-3b-302 and 10-3b-104. The Mayor has discretion as to how that process will proceed, and that process may change however the Mayor sees fit under the state code. At the first of each Mayor’s new term, whether incumbent or newly elected, the Mayor shall formulate a written policy regarding how they will select a Planning Commission member to present to the City Council for their advice and consent. The Mayor shall present that policy to the City Council at the first meeting in January of the start of their new term so that the City Council and public shall be notified of the Mayor’s process. If the Mayor feels it is necessary to change the process during his or her term because of a change in circumstances, he or she will draft a new policy and present it to the City Council so that the City Council and public shall be notified of the new policy before the Mayor institutes it. The Mayor shall not utilize a new process without first presenting that policy to the City Council.
(2) In order to ensure that the current membership of the Commission continues in office, and that the rotation of members becomes effective, the members and their successors shall each be appointed for a four-year term.
(3) No Planning Commission member shall serve more than two consecutive terms on the Planning Commission until, and unless, there shall have elapsed an intervening term of four years.
(4) Any member of the Planning Commission who shall fail to attend three meetings in any 12-month period shall be deemed to have resigned his or her position on the Planning Commission, and shall be replaced by a person to be appointed by the Mayor subject to advice and consent by the City Council.
(5) The Mayor is authorized, in his or her sole discretion, to grant an exception to this attendance policy for good cause shown; provided, further, that in no case shall an exception under this part be granted which would permit any member of the Planning Commission to absent himself or herself from Planning Commission attendance more than five times in any 12-month period.
(6) If a Planning Commission member vacates their seat for any reason, that member shall be replaced by a person to be appointed by the Mayor, subject to the advice and consent of the City Council, for the remainder of the departing member’s four-year term. The new member shall complete the term of the departing member. If the previous member’s remaining time for their term was less than half of the term, then the new member can be appointed for one additional four-year term only. If the previous member’s remaining time for their term was more than half of the term, then the new member can be appointed for two additional four-year terms.
(7) A Planning Commission member may be removed by the Mayor for cause for acting in his or her position with malfeasance or misfeasance, as defined by the state code, after a hearing has been held by the City Council regarding the allegations at issue.
(Prior Code, § 5.02)
(C) Duties and responsibilities.
(1) There is hereby established a Planning Commission for the city.
(2) All prior acts of the Planning Commission, where such acts have been performed absent this section, are ratified and confirmed as if those acts had been performed under the authority of this section.
(3) The Planning Commission shall elect a Chairperson from its members to serve for a one-year term, beginning January of each year.
(4) The Planning Commission may adopt such policies and procedures for the conduct of its meetings, the processing of applications, and for any other purposes as the Commission may, from time to time, consider to be necessary for the functioning of the Planning Commission.
(5) The policies and procedures adopted by the Commission must be approved by the City Council before taking effect.
(6) Among its other duties, and in accordance with the Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act, UCA §§ 10-9a et seq., the Planning Commission shall:
(a) Prepare and recommend a general plan, and amendments to the general plan, to the City Council as provided in this section;
(b) Recommend zoning ordinances and maps, and amendments to zoning ordinances and maps, to the City Council as provided in this section;
(c) Administer provisions of the zoning ordinance, where specifically provided for in the zoning ordinance adopted by the City Council;
(d) Recommend subdivision regulations and amendments to those regulations to the City Council as provided in this section;
(e) Recommend approval or denial of subdivision applications as provided in this section;
(f) Advise the City Council on matters as the City Council directs;
(g) Hear or decide any matters that the City Council designates, including the approval or denial of, or recommendations to approve or deny, conditional use permits; and
(h) Exercise any other powers:
1. That are necessary to enable it to perform its function; or
2. Delegated to it by the City Council.
(7) In accordance with UCA § 10-9a-403:
(a) The Planning Commission shall:
1. Complete a proposed general plan, or amendments to the general plan, for all or part of the area within the city, and then shall schedule and hold a public hearing on the proposed plan or amendments to the plan;
2. Provide reasonable notice of the public hearing as specified in UCA § 10-9a-204 at least ten calendar days before the date of the hearing; and
3. After the public hearing, may change the proposed general plan.
(b) The Planning Commission shall then forward the proposed general plan to the City Council;
(c) 1. The City Council may hold a public hearing on the proposed general plan recommended to it by the Planning Commission; and
2. If the City Council decides to hold a public hearing, the City Council shall provide reasonable notice of the public hearing at least ten calendar days before the date of the hearing.
(d) After the public hearing, the City Council may modify the proposed general plan as it considers appropriate;
(e) The City Council may, under UCA § 10-9a-404:
1. Adopt the proposed general plan without amendment;
2. Reject the proposed general plan; or
3. Amend the proposed general plan, and adopt or reject it as amended.
(f) 1. The general plan is an advisory guide for land use decisions; and
2. The City Council may adopt an ordinance mandating compliance with the general plan.
(8) The City Council may amend the general plan by following the procedures outlined in UCA §§ 10-9a-403 and 10-9a-404.
(9) In accordance with UCA §§ 10-9a-502 and 10-9a-503, the Planning Commission shall:
(a) Prepare a proposed zoning ordinance, including both the full text of the zoning ordinance and maps, that represents the Planning Commission’s recommendations for zoning all, or any part of, the area within the municipality, and then shall schedule and hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning or amendments to the zoning ordinance;
(b) Shall provide reasonable notice of the public hearing as specified in UCA § 10-9a-205 at least ten calendar days before the date of the hearing;
(c) After the public hearing, may change the proposed zoning ordinance; and
(d) The Planning Commission shall then forward the proposed zoning ordinance to the City Council.
1. The City Council may hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning ordinance recommended to it by the Planning Commission.
2. If held, the City Council shall provide reasonable notice of the public hearing at least ten calendar days before the date of the hearing.
(10) If the city mails notice of a proposed zoning change to property owners within the city within a specified distance of the property on which the zoning change is being proposed, it shall also mail equivalent notice to property owners of an adjacent municipality within the same distance of the property on which the zoning change is being proposed.
(11) In accordance with UCA § 10-9a-502, after the public hearing, the City Council may:
(a) Adopt the zoning ordinance as proposed;
(b) Reject the zoning ordinance as proposed; or
(c) Amend the zoning ordinance, and adopt or reject the zoning ordinance as amended.
(12) In accordance with UCA § 10-9a-505, the City Council may:
(a) 1. Divide the territory over which it has jurisdiction into zoning districts of a number, shape, and area it considers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section; and
2. Within those zoning districts, regulate and restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or use of buildings and structures, and the use of land.
(b) The City Council shall ensure that the regulations are uniform for each class or kind of building throughout each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts.
(13) In accordance with UCA § 10-9a-507, “Conditional Uses,” a zoning ordinance:
(a) May contain provisions for conditional uses that may be allowed, allowed with conditions, or denied in designated zoning districts, based on compliance with standards and criteria set forth in the zoning ordinance for those uses; and
(b) The Hearing Officer has jurisdiction to decide appeals of the approval or denial of conditional use permits.
(14) In accordance with UCA § 10-9a-511, except as provided in this section:
(a) 1. A nonconforming use or structure may be continued;
2. A nonconforming use may be extended through the same building; provided no structural alteration of the building is proposed, or made, for the purpose of the extension; and
3. For purposes of this section, adding a solar energy device to a building is not a structural alteration.
(b) The City Council may provide in any zoning ordinance or amendment for:
1. The establishment, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration, expansion, or substitution of nonconforming uses upon the terms set forth in the zoning ordinance;
2. The termination of all nonconforming uses, except billboards, by providing a formula establishing a reasonable time period during which the owner can recover or amortize his or her investment in the nonconforming use, if any; and
3. The termination of a billboard that is a nonconforming use by acquiring the billboard and associated property rights through gift, purchase, agreement, exchange, or eminent domain.
(c) If a municipality prevents a billboard company from maintaining, repairing, or restoring a billboard structure damaged by casualty, act of God, or vandalism, the municipality’s actions may constitute initiation of acquisition by eminent domain under UCA § 10-9a-513;
(d) Under UCA § 10-9a-513, the City Council may remove a billboard without providing compensation if, after providing the owner with reasonable notice of proceedings and an opportunity for a hearing, the City Council finds that:
1. The applicant for a permit intentionally made a false or misleading statement in his or her application;
2. The billboard is unsafe;
3. The billboard is in an unreasonable state of repair; or
4. The billboard has been abandoned for at least 12 months.
(e) A municipality may terminate the nonconforming status of school district property when the property ceases to be used for school district purposes.
(Prior Code, § 5.04)
(D) Public hearings for zoning-related matters.
(1) Any references in the city’s zoning ordinance to the contrary, notwithstanding upon the effective date of this section, the city’s Planning Commission, rather than the city’s governing body, will hold all zoning-related public hearings.
(2) All references currently contained in the zoning ordinance requiring the city’s governing body to hold such public hearings shall now be amended to read that such hearings shall be held exclusively by the Planning Commission.
(Prior Code, § 5.06)
(Ord. 26-2020, passed 7-1-2020; Ord. 47-2020, passed 12-16-2020)