The city council may, from time to time, desire to amend, supplement, modify, change, substitute or repeal (hereinafter referred to as an amendment) an article, section, regulation or district boundary, or portion thereof, established by this appendix.

Amendments to the zoning ordinance may be initiated by the city council, plan commission, city administration and/or an application from other interested parties.

All requests for amendments to the zoning ordinance must be submitted on form available through the department of public works. The petitioner shall submit one (1) original and seven (7) copies of the petition and all required documentation to the director of public works. At the time the petition is filed, the petitioner shall pay a fee as required by the fee schedule (Article 31 of this appendix). Petitions and all required documentation shall be submitted a minimum of ten (10) days in advance of the plan commission meeting date, in order to be considered for that plan commission agenda.

Upon receipt of the petition for amendment to the zoning ordinance and supporting documents, the director of public works shall review the documents to determine completeness. Once the director determines the petition is complete, then the petition shall be forwarded to the plan commission.

The plan commission shall hear all petitions for amendment to the zoning ordinance at meetings open to the public.

The plan commission may choose to recommend approval of the petition as submitted, recommend additional amendments or conditions for approval or recommend denial of the petition.

The plan commission shall render a decision on a petition within sixty (60) days from the date the plan commission first considers the petition. The petition for amendments to the zoning ordinance shall be deemed to have received a positive recommendation if the plan commission fails to render a decision within the said sixty-day period. The sixty-day period may be extended through mutual written agreement between the petitioner and the city plan commission.

The plan commission shall submit a written report to the city council of its decision stating the recommended conditions for approval, or reasons for recommending denial of the petition for amendment to the zoning ordinance.

After receipt of the plan commission recommendation and report, the city council shall consider the petition at a public hearing. Any amendment to the zoning ordinance is approved by ordinance. The public hearing shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation not less than fifteen (15) days nor more than thirty (30) days prior to the hearing date. The city council may, at its discretion, add to or delete amendments or conditions recommended by the city plan commission. The city council may refer the petition back to the plan commission for further study before making its final decision. The decision rendered by the city council shall require a simple majority vote except in the following circumstances:

A vote of at least six (6) members of the city council shall be required to render a decision contrary to the city plan commission recommendation for approval or denial of the petition for amendments to the zoning ordinance.

The affirmative vote of at least six (6) members of the city council shall be required to authorize an amendment when a protest against said amendment is presented to the city clerk, in writing, at least five (5) calendar days in advance of the city council meeting at which the matter is to be considered. A calendar day shall be construed to mean a full working day. Therefore, protest petitions must be received by 5:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) the day preceding the required five (5) calendar days. The protest shall be duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of thirty (30) percent or more of the land (exclusive or streets, places and alleys) included within one hundred eighty-five (185) feet of the exterior boundary of the property(ies) of the requested amendment. The city council decision shall be in writing and shall include a finding of facts and conclusion.

In the event that the city council denies an petition for a zoning change or zoning amendment, no subsequent petition, with reference to the same property or part thereof, shall be filed by any petitioner, whether the same person, firm or corporation, for six (6) months from the date of denial by the city council.

An appeal to any decision of the city council may be presented to the circuit court having jurisdiction in St. Louis County. To do so, a petition, duly verified, setting forth that such decision is illegal, in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality and asking for relief therefrom, shall be filed with the circuit court within thirty (30) days after the filing of the decision of the city council.