A. Authority. Except in the cases of uses and developments requiring a special use permit pursuant to the provisions in this title, the Zoning Officer may, as a matter of original jurisdiction and in accordance with the procedures and standards set out in this section 9-6-6
, grant site plan approval to uses and developments requiring such approval pursuant to subsection 9-6-6
C.1. In case of uses and developments requiring a special use permit pursuant to subsection 9-6-5
B. or Section 9-6-5
C. of this chapter, and in cases of appeal from a denial of approval by the Zoning Officer, the Plan Commission or Village Board may grant site plan approval in accordance with the procedures and standards set out in this section.
B. Purpose. The site plan review process recognizes that even those uses and developments that have been determined to be generally suitable for location in a particular district are capable of adversely affecting the purposes for which this title was enacted unless careful consideration is given to critical design elements. It is the purpose of this section to provide a vehicle for the review of the developer’s attention to such elements.
C. Site Plan Review Required.
1. Zoning Officer review. Site plan review by the Zoning Officer in accordance with this section will be required in connection with the following developments:
a. Any multiple-family residential development located in the village;
b. Any non-residential development located in the village; and
c. Any development containing a use identified in this title as requiring site plan review.
2. Plan Commission Review. Site plan review by the Plan Commission in accordance with this section will be required in connection with the following developments:
a. Any proposed structure within the ORI or M-1 zoning districts that is one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) square-feet or greater and either abuts a residentially zoned property or is located across a road or unimproved right-of-way from a residentially zoned property;
b. Any site plan review by the Plan Commission may be sought in any case of a denial of site plan approval by the Zoning Officer.
D. Parties Entitled to Seek Site Plan Approval. Application for site plan review may be filed by the owner of, or any person having a contractual interest in, the subject property.
E. Procedure.
1. Zoning Officer approvals.
a. Application. Applications for site plan approval by the Zoning Officer will be filed in accordance with the requirements of subsection 9-6-2
C.6.l. of this chapter.
b. Action by Zoning Officer. Within thirty (30) days following receipt by the Zoning Officer of a properly completed application, the Zoning Officer will cause such application and the attached site plan to be reviewed, in terms of the standards established by subsection 9-6-6
F. of this subsection. The Zoning Officer will then either:
(1) Approve the site plan as submitted;
(2) On the basis of written findings in accordance with subsection 9-6-6
F. below, approve it subject to specific modification; or
(3) On the basis of such written findings, deny approval of the site plan.
c. Zoning Officer decision. Immediately upon concluding review, the Zoning Officer will return one (1) copy of the site plan to the applicant marked to show either approval, approval subject to modification, which modification will be clearly and permanently marked on such plans, or denial of approval. The Zoning Officer will maintain a similarly marked set of such plans in the Zoning Officer’s files for any further processing that may be required.
d. Failure to act. The failure of the Zoning Officer to act within said thirty (30) days, or such further time to which the applicant may agree, will be deemed to be a decision approving the site plan as submitted.
e. Effect of Zoning Officer’s action.
(1) The action of the Zoning Officer in approving a site plan or in approving a site plan subject to modifications that are acceptable to the applicant will constitute a final administrative action and will not be subject to further review by, or appeal to, any Village Board or commission.
(2) The action of the Zoning Officer in denying an application for site plan approval or in approving a site plan subject to modifications that are not acceptable to the applicant (which action the applicant may treat as a denial) will not be considered final action by the village but will only be authorization for the applicant to seek approval of the site plan from the Plan Commission by way of the appeal procedure set forth below.
f. Appeals. Within forty-five (45) days following a denial of site plan approval by the Zoning Officer, the applicant may seek approval of the site plan by filing an application for appeal to the Plan Commission in accordance with the requirements of subsection 9-6-2 C.6.d. of this chapter; provided that any such appeal will be processed in accordance with the provisions of subsection 9-6-6
E.2. below.
2. Appellate jurisdiction.
a. Application. Applications for site plan approval by the Plan Commission under its appellate jurisdiction must be filed in accordance with the requirements of subsection 9-6-2
C.6.d. of this chapter. In cases where review is sought by way of an appeal of a denial of site plan approval by the Zoning Officer, the application for appeal must be filed within forty-five (45) days following such denial.
b. Action by Zoning Officer in appeal cases. Upon receipt of a properly completed application for an appeal of a denial of site plan approval by the Zoning Officer, the Zoning Officer will forthwith transmit to the Plan Commission the application for appeal, the original application for site plan approval, all papers constituting the record upon which the Zoning Officer’s denial was based and a copy of the Zoning Officer's decision denying the application for site plan approval.
c. Public meeting. The Zoning Officer will provide notice and the Plan Commission will conduct a public meeting in accordance with subsection 9-6-2
E. of this chapter.
d. Action by Plan Commission.
(1) Within thirty-five (35) days following the conclusion of the public meeting, the Plan Commission will, either approve the site plan and design as submitted, make modifications acceptable to the applicant and approve such modified site plan or approve or disapprove it in the manner hereinafter specified.
(2) The failure of the Plan Commission to act within thirty-five (35) days, or such further time to which the applicant may agree, will be deemed to be a decision denying site plan approval.
(3) The action of the Plan Commission in denying an application for site plan and design approval or in approving a site plan subject to modifications that are not acceptable to the applicant (which action the applicant may treat as a denial) will not be considered final action by the village but will only be authorization for the applicant to seek approval of the site plan from the Village Board by way of the appeal procedure set forth below.
e. Right to final appeal. Within forty-five (45) days following denial of site plan approval by the Plan Commission, the applicant may seek approval of the site plan by filing an application for appeal to the Village Board consistent with the applicable requirements of subsection 9-6-2
C.6.d. of this chapter. Within thirty-five (35) days of receiving a properly prepared and filed notice of appeal, including, without limitation, all documents provided to the Plan Commission, the Village Board shall, without further hearing, affirm, reverse, or modify the decision of the Plan Commission. The failure of the Village Board to act within thirty-five (35) days shall be deemed to be a final decision of the village denying the appeal and affirming the decision of the Plan Commission. The decision of the Village Board shall in all instances be considered a final decision.
F. Standards for site plan disapproval.
1. Standards. The Zoning Officer, Plan Commission, and the Village Board will not disapprove a site plan submitted pursuant to this section except on the basis of specific written findings directed to one or more of the following standards:
a. The application is incomplete in specified particulars or contains or reveals violations of this title or other applicable regulations that the applicant has, after written request, failed or refused to supply or correct.
b. The application is submitted in connection with another application, the approval of which is a condition precedent to the necessity for site plan review, and the applicant has failed to secure approval of that application.
c. The site plan fails to adequately meet specified standards required by this title with respect to the proposed use or development, including special use standards, where applicable.
d. The proposed site plan or design interferes with easements or rights-of-way.
e. The proposed site plan or design is unreasonably injurious or detrimental to the use and enjoyment of surrounding property.
f. The proposed site plan or design creates undue traffic congestion or hazards in the public streets, or the circulation elements of the proposed site plan or design unreasonably create hazards to safety on or off site or disjointed or inefficient pedestrian or vehicular circulation path on or off site.
g. The screening of the site does not provide adequate shielding from or for nearby uses.
h. The proposed site plan creates unreasonable drainage or erosion problems or fails to fully and satisfactory integrate the site into the overall existing and planned drainage system serving the village.
i. The proposed site plan places unwarranted or unreasonable burdens on specified utility systems serving the site or area or fails to fully and satisfactory integrate site utilities into the overall existing and planned utility systems serving the village.
j. The proposed site plan or design does not provide for required public uses designated on the official map.
k. The proposed site plan or design otherwise adversely affects the public health, safety, or general welfare.
2. Alternative approaches. In citing any of the foregoing standards, other than those of subsections 9-6-6
F.1.a. and 9-6-6
F.1.b., as the basis for disapproving a site plan, the Zoning Officer, Plan Commission, or the Village Board may suggest alternative site plan approaches that could be developed to avoid the specified deficiency or may state the reasons why such deficiency cannot be avoided consistent with the applicant’s objectives.
G. Effect of site plan approval.
1. Approval of a site plan will not authorize the establishment or extension of any use nor the development, construction, reconstruction, alteration, or moving of any building or structure, but will merely authorize the preparation, filing, and processing of applications for any permits or approvals that may be required by the codes and ordinances of the village, including, without limitation, a certificate of zoning compliance, a building permit, a certificate of occupancy, and subdivision approval.
2. A copy of every approved site plan will be filed with the Zoning Officer and the development of the site will be in substantial conformity with such approved and filed plan.
H. Limitations on site plan approval. Subject to an extension of time granted by the Zoning Officer pursuant to subsection 9-6-1
B.12. of this chapter, no site plan approval will be valid for a period longer than one (1) year unless a building permit is issued and construction is actually begun within that period and is thereafter diligently pursued to completion or unless a certificate of occupancy is issued and a use commenced within that period.
I. Amendments to site plan or design during development.
1. Site plans approved by the Zoning Officer. During the development of the site, the Zoning Officer will have authority to authorize any amendments to a site plan approved by the Zoning Officer that the Zoning Officer could have authorized in the course of the Zoning Officer’s original review.
2. Site plans approved by the Plan Commission or Village Board.
a. Minor amendments. During the development of the site, the Zoning Officer may authorize minor amendments to a site plan or design approved by the Plan Commission or Village Board under their appellate jurisdiction when such amendments appear necessary in light of technical or engineering considerations first discovered during actual development. Such minor amendments will be consistent with the intent and purpose of this title and the site plan as approved, will be the minimum necessary to overcome the particular difficulty and will not be approved if they would result in a violation of any standard or requirement of this title. Such minor amendments will be limited to the following:
(1) Altering the location of any one structure or group of structures by not more than five feet (5') or one-fourth (1/4) of the distance shown on the approved site plan between such structure or structures and any other structure or any vehicular circulation element or any boundary of the site plan, whichever is less.
(2) Altering the location of any circulation element by not more than five feet (5') or one-fourth (1/4) of the distance shown on the approved site plan between such circulation element and any structure, whichever is less.
(3) Altering the location of any open space by not more than twenty feet (20').
(4) Altering any final grade by not more than ten percent of the originally planned grade.
(5) Altering the location or type of landscaping elements.
b. Major amendments. Any amendment to a site plan approved by the Plan Commission or Village Board under their appellate jurisdiction that is not authorized by subsection 9-6-6
I.2.a above will be considered a major amendment and will be granted only upon application to and approval by the Plan Commission or Village Board. The Village Board may, by ordinance duly adopted, grant approval for major amendment without referral to the Plan Commission upon finding that any changes in the site plan as approved will be in substantial conformity with said plan.
J. Amendments to site plan following completion of development. After a site is developed in accordance with an approved site plan, the approved site plan may be amended, varied, or altered in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as provided for the original approval of site plans. (Ord. 2024-6, 3-7-2024)