Francis City Zoning Code

To prepare a general plan, any maps required by the plan, and amendments to the general plan and recommend the plan or amendments to the plan to the City Council.

To prepare FCC Title 17 and this title including zoning and subdivision regulations, any maps required by this title and FCC Title 17, and amendments to FCC Title 17 and this title and recommend this title and FCC Title 17 or amendments to this title and FCC Title 17 to the City Council.

Administer provisions of FCC Title 17 and this title as provided in FCC Title 17 and this title and approved by the City Council.

Recommend approval or denial of subdivision and commercial applications in accordance to FCC Title 17 and this title.

Advise the City Council on matters as the Council directs, and hear or decide any matters that the Council designates, including recommendations for approval or denial of conditional use permits.

Exercise any other powers found in the adopted bylaws of the Planning Commission after approval by the City Council, or powers that are necessary to enable the Commission to perform its function or those designated to the Commission by the Council.

To enter upon any land, under consideration for approval or which has been given a conditional use permit, at reasonable times, to make examinations and surveys.

City Comprehensive Planning and Zoning Review. The Planning Commission shall have the primary responsibility to initiate long-range planning for the City, including adequate streets, parks, trails, and recreation facilities, long-range zoning objectives, and periodic review of existing plans to keep them current. The Commission shall review proposed annexations to the City and recommend action and zoning on land to be annexed. The Commission shall initiate, hear or recommend zone changes and review development standards within zones.

Recommendation of Subdivision Approval. The Planning Commission shall review all proposals for subdivisions and commercial projects for compliance with the provisions of all applicable regulations and FCC Title 17 and Division II of this title.

Amendments. Amendments to the provisions of this title and FCC Title 17 may be initiated by the Planning Commission, City Council, an applicant for development approval, or member of the general public. Amendments may be initiated by, but are not necessarily limited to, the following reasons:

It should be noted that many amendments to the zoning map and development code may require an amendment to the general plan as well. If a petition would require changes to the general plan it should be so noted on the petition and the changes should be made concurrently.

Notice to Comply. Francis City shall issue a written notice to comply regarding each such violation to the offending party, which written notice shall identify the offending party, identify the violation, set forth the time period afforded to the offending party to come into compliance with this title and FCC Title 17 and thereby avoid further enforcement proceedings. The notice shall further set forth the date, time and location of an administrative hearing to be held regarding the same in the event that the offending party does not comply within the prescribed time period and instead submits to the City, prior to the expiration of the prescribed time period for coming into compliance, a written request for administrative hearing. For the first time offense, the applicable compliance period shall be 30 calendar days from the date of the written notice to comply, unless said violation is a matter of urgent public health, safety and welfare; in such event the compliance period shall be 10 calendar days. If the offending party is unable to correct the offense within the allowed compliance period, the party may request an extension. The extension must be in writing and must be signed by all property owners, tenants, and parties. The request for extension shall contain the requested extension date, factual evidence as to why the extension is justified, and a commitment to correct the violation within the extension period. The extension may be granted by the zoning enforcement officer at his or her discretion. Written approval or denial of the extension will be given to the offending party. In the event that the zoning enforcement officer does not grant the extension, his or her decision may be appealed to the administrative hearing officer.

In the event that a second notice to comply is issued to the same party with respect to a particular violation (or similar) within any rolling 12-month period, the applicable compliance period shall be 15 calendar days from the date of the written notice to comply. In the event that a third notice to comply is issued to the same party with respect to a particular violation within any rolling 12-month period, the applicable compliance period shall be the next calendar day after the date of the written notice to comply.

Amount of Civil Penalty. If a violation is not completely cured within the time period set forth in the written notice to comply, then such violation of any provision of this title and FCC Title 17 shall be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $100.00 per day, which fine shall be imposed beginning on the first calendar day after the applicable compliance period has expired and ending on the date that the violation is completely cured and the offending party is in full compliance with this title and FCC Title 17 with respect thereto.

Administrative Hearing. The administrative hearing shall be a public meeting during regularly scheduled hours, conducted by an administrative law judge appointed by the City Council (which administrative law judge may be an employee of Francis City). If a written request for administrative hearing has been timely submitted to the City, the offending party shall be given an opportunity to be heard at the administrative hearing, and shall otherwise be afforded due process. The administrative hearing shall be recorded or otherwise documented so that a true and correct transcript may be made of its proceedings. The administrative law judge shall make a final administrative determination with respect to the citation, which determination may be that there was no violation, or that a violation occurred and must be abated, and the amount of the appropriate civil penalty within the parameters set forth herein.

Appeal. Any person adversely affected by any such administrative proceeding and order may petition a district court for review of the determination. In the petition, the petitioner may only allege that the administrative order was arbitrary, capricious or illegal. The petition is barred unless it is filed within 30 calendar days after the administrative order is final. No evidence may be submitted to the district court as part of such petition that is not included in the administrative record of the proceedings unless the evidence was offered to the administrative law judge as part of the administrative hearing and the district court determines that the evidence was improperly excluded by the administrative law judge.

Collection. In the event that Francis City is required to take formal legal action to collect any civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section, the person responsible therefor shall also be responsible for paying any costs of collection incurred by Francis City, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney's fees, which costs of collection may exceed the amount of the civil penalty itself.