The City Council may from time to time, upon the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission, amend, supplement, change or repeal the regulations, restrictions and zoning district boundaries herein established. Requests to amend this Ordinance may be initiated by the City Council or the Planning and Zoning Commission on their own motion, or be applied for as hereinafter set forth.

(Ord. No. 23-1166, § 2, 7-12-2023)

Applications for amendment of this Ordinance shall be made to the Planning and Zoning Commission on a standard form provided for the purpose and shall be signed by a real property owner in the area for which amendment is applied for. In the event that the application includes properties owned by more than one (1) owner, the City shall notify by first class mail, all property owners included in the area proposed for change. Such notice shall be postmarked no later than fifteen (15) days prior to any Planning and Zoning Commission hearing of the application.

(Ord. No. 23-1166, § 2, 7-12-2023)

Every application for amendment of this Ordinance shall be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission at a public hearing. Said public hearing shall be held only after a public notice of time, place and date of such hearing has been published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Douglas, at least fifteen (15) days prior to such hearing. The Planning and Zoning Commission may, upon its own motion, after such public hearing, submit to the City Council a report of the hearing and a recommendation concerning amendment of this Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 23-1166, § 2, 7-12-2023)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 23-1166, adopted July 12, 2023, deleted § 1204, which pertained to appeal from denial of amendment and derived from the original codification.

In the event that a protest against a proposed amendment is presented at a meeting of the City Council, a public hearing of the City Council shall be scheduled and noticed consistent with A.R.S § 9-462.04(A). Said public hearing shall be held only after a public notice of time, place and date of such hearing has been published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Douglas, at least fifteen (15) days prior to such hearing.

(Ord. No. 23-1166, § 2, 7-12-2023)

In the event that an application for amendment is denied by the City Council, or is withdrawn after the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, the Commission shall not reconsider the application nor consider another application for the same amendment of this Ordinance as it applies to the same property described in the original application or any part thereof, for a period of not less than one (1) year from the date of such denial action.

A filing fee as provided for in Article 13 of this Ordinance shall accompany each application for amendment of this Ordinance, and not part of such fee shall be returnable. Payment of filing fee shall be waived when the application is initiated by the City Council or Planning and Zoning Commission, or when the applicant is a person acting as a City Representative of, and agency of, the City of Douglas, Cochise County, the State of Arizona, or the United States Government.

In the event that a request for amendments concerns only the amendment of general requirements or permitted uses, no petitions or posting shall be required; provided, however, that all other provisions of this Article and Arizona Revised Statutes shall be compiled with.

(Ord. No. 23-1166, § 2, 7-12-2023)