A. Authority: For the purpose of promoting the public health, safety, morals, comfort, and general welfare, conserving the value of property throughout the village, and lessening or avoiding congestion in the public streets and highways, the president and village board may, from time to time, in the manner hereinafter set forth, amend the regulations imposed in the districts created by this title, provided that in all amendatory ordinances adopted under the authority of this chapter, due allowance shall be made for existing conditions, the conservation of property values, the directions of building development to the best advantages of the entire village, and the uses to which property is devoted at the time of the adoption of such amendatory ordinance.
B. Initiation Of Amendment: Amendments may be proposed by the president and village board, real estate development board, any property owner, or interested person or organization.
C. Processing:
1. Application For Amendment: An application for an amendment shall be filed with the village clerk in such form and accompanied by such information as required by the president and village board. Such application shall be forwarded by the village clerk, to the real estate development board with the request to hold a public hearing.
2. Hearing On Application: The real estate development board shall hold a public hearing on each application for an amendment at such time and place as shall be established by the real estate development board. The hearing shall be conducted and a record of such proceedings shall be preserved in such manner as the real estate development board shall, by rule, prescribe from time to time in conformance with Illinois statutes.
3. Notice Of Hearing: Notice of time and place of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the village not more than thirty (30) days or less than fifteen (15) days before such hearing, as prescribed by applicable Illinois statutes.
a. Not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the public hearing, the applicant, at the applicant's cost, shall cause to be posted upon the real estate, which will be the subject of such a hearing, a sign bearing the following words:
THIS PROPERTY IS SUBJECT TO A REQUEST WHICH REQUIRES A PUBLIC HEARING. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL THE VILLAGE CLERK AT (708) 448-1181, OR VISIT WWW.VILLAGEOFWORTH.COM. THIS NOTICE IS POSTED PURSUANT TO VILLAGE ORDINANCE.
b. The sign shall be placed in a location calculated to be seen by the largest number of persons possible. The building commissioner shall have sole discretion with regard to such location, and the fact that such notice was not seen by any particular individual shall not be the basis for reversing any decision of the real estate development board with regard to any action taken at the public hearing.
c. The sign shall be of such a size and color and with letters of sufficient size as to be clearly legible from adjacent public rights of way.
4. Findings Of Fact And Recommendation Of The Real Estate Development Board: Within thirty (30) days after the close of the hearing on a proposed amendment, the real estate development board shall make written findings of fact and shall submit same together with its recommendations to the president and village board. Where the purpose and effect of the proposed amendment is to change the zoning classification of particular property, the real estate development board shall make findings based upon the evidence presented to it in each specific case with respect to the following matters:
a. Existing uses of property within the general area of the property in question.
b. The zoning classification of property within the general area of the property in question.
c. The suitability of the property in question to the uses permitted under the existing zoning classification and that the property for which an amendment is requested has at least fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet of area and not less than one hundred (100) linear feet of frontage on a street.
d. The trend of development, if any, in the general area of the property in question, including changes, if any, which have taken place since the day the property in question was placed in its present zoning classification.
D. Decisions:
1. Action By The Real Estate Development Board:
a. The real estate development board shall not recommend the adoption of a proposed amendment until after it finds that the adoption of such amendment is in the public interest and is not solely for the interest of the applicant. The real estate development board may recommend the adoption of an amendment changing the zoning classification of the property in question to any higher classification than that requested by the applicant. For the purposes of this subsection, the R1 single-family residence district shall be considered the highest classification and the M2 general manufacturing district shall be considered the lowest classification.
b. A concurring vote of a majority of all members of the real estate development board shall be required to recommend the granting or denying a request for an amendment.
2. Action By The President And Village Board:
a. The president and village board, upon receiving the report of findings and recommendation of the real estate development board, may grant or deny any proposed amendment in accordance with applicable Illinois statutes, or may refer it back to the real estate development board for further consideration.
b. If an application for a proposed amendment is not acted upon finally by the president and village board within six (6) months of the date upon which such application is received by the president and village board, it shall be deemed to have been denied.
c. In case a written protest against any proposed amendment, signed and acknowledged by owners of twenty percent (20%) of the frontage proposed to be altered, or by the owners of twenty percent (20%) of the frontage immediately adjoining or across the alley therefrom, or by the owners of twenty percent (20%) of the frontage directly opposite the frontage to be altered, is filed with the village clerk, the amendment cannot be passed except on the favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all members of the village board. (Ord. 2014-07, 2-4-2014)