The Planning and Zoning Commission shall meet in the Civic Center or in some other specified location as may be designated by the presiding Chairperson and at such intervals as may be necessary to orderly and properly transact the business of the Commission, but not less than once each month. If there have been no applications filed for review by the Commission, the City Secretary shall notify the Chairperson and no meeting shall be required for that month.

Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA).

The Commission shall have the power to make rules, regulations, and bylaws for its own governance, which shall conform with those set forth by the City Council, and such rules, regulations, and bylaws shall be subject to approval by the City Council. Such rules and bylaws shall include, among other items, provisions for the following:

The Commission will follow Robert’s Rules of Order and procedures shall not be in conflict with the laws applicable to the Commission on the following.

Statutes of the state authorizing and empowering cities to regulate the platting and recording of subdivisions or additions within the city’s corporate limits and establishing extraterritorial jurisdiction are hereby adopted, and the Commission, acting through its duly authorized officials, shall have all the rights, powers, privileges, and authority authorized and granted by and through said statutes pertaining to regulation of subdivisions in the city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The Commission shall have all the rights, powers, privileges, and authority authorized and granted by the City Council and through the statutes of the state authorizing and granting cities the power of zoning and subdivision regulation as found in Tex. Local Government Code, Ch. 211 and 212, as amended from time to time.

The Commission shall be an advisory body and adjunct to the City Council, and shall make recommendations regarding amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, changes of zoning, zoning ordinance amendments, and zoning to be given to newly annexed areas, and shall make recommendations regarding the approval of plats of subdivisions as may be submitted to it for review and other planning related matters. The Commission shall conduct an annual review of the city’s Comprehensive Plan and shall be prepared to make recommendations to the City Council as deemed necessary to keep the city’s Comprehensive Plan current with changing conditions and trends, and with the planning needs of the city. The Commission shall also serve in an advisory capacity on any planning related item(s) in the city.

The city declares the enactment of these regulations governing the use and development of land, buildings, and structures as a measure necessary to the orderly development of the community. Therefore, no change shall be made in these regulations or in the boundaries of the zoning districts except:

In making a determination regarding a written requested zoning change, the Commission and the City Council shall consider the following approval standard factors:

Each application for zoning or for an amendment or change to the existing provisions of this chapter shall be made in writing on an application form available at the city in the office of the City Secretary, filed with the city, and shall be accompanied by payment of the appropriate fee. The application shall also be accompanied by additional information materials such as plans, maps, exhibits, legal description of property, architectural elevations, and information about proposed uses, as deemed necessary by the Mayor/City Secretary or his or her designee, in order to ensure that the written request is understood.

All zoning change requests shall be accompanied by a notarized statement verifying land ownership and, if applicable, authorization of a land owner’s agent to file the change request.

For zoning or rezoning requests involving real property, the Commission shall hold at least one public hearing on each zoning application. For proposed changes to zoning district boundaries including rezoning requests, notice of the Commission hearing shall be accomplished by publishing the purpose, time, and place of the public hearing in the official newspaper of the city before 15 days before the date of the hearing date of the public hearing. Written notice of the public hearing to occur before the Planning and Zoning Commission shall also be sent to all owners of property, as indicated by the most recently approved city tax roll, that is located within the area of application and within 200 feet of any property affected thereby, said written notice to be sent before ten days before the hearing date. Such notice may be served by using the last known address as listed on the most recently approved tax roll and depositing the notice, with first-class postage paid, in the U.S. mail.

The city may, at its option, establish additional rules and procedures for public notification of proposed zoning changes or development proposals such as site plans, plats, and developer agreements, which may include, but not be limited to, the posting of a sign(s) on any property that is proposed for a zoning change or development by the applicant or its agent(s). Adherence to such rules and procedures, if so established by the city, shall be the responsibility of the applicant and shall be required as part of a zoning change or development application.

The Commission shall function in accordance with secs. 154.020 through 154.040 and with applicable provisions in the city’s code of ordinances.

The Commission shall hold a public hearing on a zoning or rezoning request and/or a proposed text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. After all public input has been received and the public hearing closed, the Commission shall make its recommendations on the proposed zoning request and site plan, if submitted, stating its findings, its overall evaluation of the request, and its assessment regarding how the request relates to the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The Commission may, on its own motion or at the applicant’s request, defer its decision recommendations until it has had an opportunity to consider other information or proposed modifications to the request which may have a direct bearing thereon. If the Commission elects to table the request, such tabling shall specifically state the time period of the tabling by citing the meeting date whereon the request will reappear on the Commission’s agenda.

When the Commission is ready to act upon the zoning request, it may recommend approval of the request as it was submitted by the applicant, approval of the request subject to certain conditions as in the case of a planned development district or a conditional use permit, or disapproval of the request. If the Commission’s recommendation is to approve the request either as submitted or with additional conditions, then the request will be automatically forwarded to the City Council for a second public hearing thereon.

If the Commission recommends denial of the zoning change request, it shall provide reasons to the applicant for the denial if requested by the applicant. The Commission Chairperson shall inform the applicant of the right to receive reasons for the denial.

After a public hearing is held before the City Council regarding the zoning application, the City Council may approve the request in whole or in part, deny the request in whole or in part, table the application to a future meeting specifically citing the City Council meeting to which it was tabled, or it may refer the application back to the Commission for further study.

For zoning requests involving real property, a favorable vote of three-fourths of all members of the City Council shall be required to approve any change in zoning when written objections are received from 20% or more of the land area covered by the proposed change, or the land area within 200 feet of the subject property, in compliance with the provisions of the Tex. Local Government Code, sec. 211.006. If a protest against such proposed amendment, supplement, or change has been filed with the City Secretary, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of 20% or more, either of the area of the land included in such a proposed change or those immediately adjacent to the area thereof extending 200 feet there from, such amendments shall not become effective except by a three-fourths vote of all members of the City Council.

Upon approval of the zoning by the City Council, the applicant shall submit all related material with revisions, if necessary, to the Mayor/City Secretary or his or her designee for the preparation of the amending ordinance. The zoning request shall be deemed approved at the time the City Council makes a decision to approve the request as submitted or with certain conditions. However, the amending ordinance will not be prepared or formally adopted until a correct description and all required exhibits have been submitted to the Mayor/City Secretary or his or her designee.

The City Council may from time to time, after receiving a final report thereon by the Commission and after public hearings required by law, amend, supplement, or change the regulations herein provided or the boundaries of the zoning districts specified on the Zoning District Map. Any ordinance regulations or zoning district boundary amendment may be requested by the City Council, the Commission, or in writing by the owner of real property or the authorized representative of an owner of real property. Upon such request, the item(s) shall be posted on the next Commission agenda after proper application and notification has been made.

Consideration for a change in any district boundary line or special zoning regulation may be initiated only by the property owner or his or her authorized agent, or by the Commission or the City Council on its own motion when it finds that public benefit will be derived from consideration of such matter. Proof of authorization by the property owner must be submitted with the zoning application. In the event the ownership stated on an application and that shown in city records are different, the applicant shall submit proof of ownership or verification that he or she is acting as an authorized agent for the property owner.

For requests involving proposed changes or additions to the text of the Zoning Ordinance, notice of the Commission hearing shall be accomplished by publishing the purpose, time, and place of the public hearing in the official newspaper of the city not less than 15 days prior to the date of the public hearing. Changes in the ordinance text which do not change zoning district boundaries, do not establish zoning regulations for specific districts, or do not involve specific real property, do not require written notification to individual property owners.

Public hearing shall be held as a joint hearing with City Council and the Commission at which time the changes or additions to the current city ordinance will be reviewed and any recommendations from City Council and input from the public will be noted. If needed, the Commission will schedule a special meeting to review recommendations before submitting final recommendation to City Council to be voted on at the next scheduled City Council meeting.

Parliamentary procedures shall be established by the City Council.

A conditional use is a land use which, because of its unique nature, is compatible with the permitted land uses in a given zoning district only under certain conditions. Such conditions include a determination that the external effects of the conditional use in relation to the existing and planned uses of adjoining property and the neighborhood can be mitigated through imposition of standards and conditions. This section sets forth the standards used to evaluate proposed conditional uses and the procedures for approving conditional use permit (CUP) applications.

No conditional use shall be established and no building permit shall be issued for any use designated as a conditional use within a zoning district until a conditional use permit is issued in accordance with the provisions of this section. An application for a conditional use permit shall be accompanied by a site plan prepared in the manner described in sec. 154.033. The site plan shall illustrate the proposed use to be established, its relationship to adjoining properties, and how it meets the approval standards set forth in sec. 154.032(B).

The following general rules apply to all conditional uses.

Termination of approval of a conditional use for failure to commence development and extension of the time for performance for a conditional use permit shall be governed by the following. If a permit has not been applied for and work, repairs, or demolition are not started within 45 days of the date of CUP approval, the Planning and Zoning Commission or its designee shall give notice by first-class mail addressed to address given on the application to appear before the City Council to show cause why said repairs or demolition has not been started.

No proposed or existing building, premises, or land use authorized as a conditional use may be established, enlarged, modified, structurally altered, or otherwise changed from that approved in the conditional use permit, unless such amendment is authorized in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in this section and the conditional use permit and approved site plan are amended accordingly.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall not have jurisdiction to hear, review, reverse, or modify any decision, determination, or ruling with respect to the specific land use designated by any conditional use permit.