The following actions shall be taken by the applicant:

1.1.

Initiation of Amendments. Proposed changes or amendments may be initiated by the County Commissioners, Planning Board, Zoning Advisory Board, Board of Zoning Adjustment, or by one or more owners or lessees of property within the area proposed to be changed or affected.

1.2.

Application. An application for any change or amendment shall contain a description and/or statement of the present and proposed zoning regulation or district boundary to be applied, and the names and addresses of the owner or owners of the property. Such application shall be filed not later 12 noon, 14 working days prior to the meeting at which the application is to be considered.

1.3.

Fees. A nonrefundable fee, according to the schedule available at the office of the Zoning Administrator, shall be paid to Montgomery County for each application for an amendment, to cover cost of advertising and other administrative expenses involved.

1.4.

Public Hearing Notices. When a change in the zoning classification of a piece of property is requested, the applicant shall provide to the Zoning Administrator or his designated agent a list of names and addresses, as obtained from the county tax listings and tax abstracts, of all adjacent property owners and all owners of property within the area under consideration for rezoning along with a copy of the tax map showing the property. The Zoning Administrator shall then mail notices of the public hearing to each person on the list and shall certify that fact to the Board of County Commissioners. Such certification shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud

1.5.

Reapplication for Amendment. With the exception of requests originating with the Planning Board, Board of Adjustment, or County Administration, an application for any rezoning of the same property or any application for the same amendment to the Zoning Ordinance text shall be permitted only once within any twelve (12) month period. The Board of County Commissioners, by seventy-five (75) percent affirmative vote of its total membership, may waive this restriction if it finds any emergency exists.

Every proposed amendment, supplement, change, modification, or repeal of this Ordinance shall be referred to the Planning Board for its recommendation and report.

2.1.

Review Guidelines. The following policy guidelines shall be followed by the Planning Board concerning zoning amendments and no proposed zoning amendment will receive favorable recommendation unless:

A.

The proposal will place all property similarly situated in the area in the same category, or in appropriate complementary categories.

B.

There is convincing demonstration that all uses permitted under the proposed district classification would be in the general public interest and not merely in the interest of an individual or small group.

C.

There is convincing demonstration that all uses permitted under the proposed district classification would be appropriate in the area included in the proposed change. (When a new district designation is assigned, any use permitted in the district is allowable, so long as it meets district requirements, and not merely uses which applicants state they intend to make of the property involved.)

D.

There is convincing demonstration that the character of the neighborhood will not be materially and adversely affected by any use permitted in the proposed change.

E.

The proposed change is in accord with any land use plan and should planning principles.

2.2.

Timing or Review and Decision. A petition to amend the district boundaries or regulations established by this Ordinance shall be considered by the Planning Board at its next regular monthly meeting or any called special meeting, provided it has been filed, complete in form and content, at least two (2) weeks prior to such meeting.

Otherwise, consideration may be deferred until the following monthly meeting. The Planning Board may sit concurrently with the public hearing held by the County Commissioners.

The Planning Board shall render its decision on any properly filed petition within thirty (30) days after the public hearing by the County Commissioners and shall transmit its recommendation and report, including the reasons for its determinations, to the Board of County Commissioners.

The Board of County Commissioners of Montgomery County, North Carolina, may from time to time as they see fit, amend any provision of this Ordinance according to the following procedure.

3.1.

Notice and Public Hearing. No amendment shall be adopted by the County Commissioners until and after public notice and hearing. Notice of the public hearing shall meet the requirements as given in Article II, Section 4.

3.2.

County Commissioners Action. Before taking such lawful action as it may deem advisable, the County Commissioners shall consider the Planning Board's recommendations on each proposed Zoning Amendment. If no recommendation is received from the Planning Board within 30 days after public hearing by the County Commissioners, the proposed amendment shall be deemed to have been approved by the Planning Board.

3.3.

Watershed Protection Rules. Under no circumstances shall the Board of County Commissioners adopt such amendments, supplements, or changes that would cause this Ordinance to violate the watershed protection rules as adopted by the NC Environmental Management Commission. All amendments which may affect these rules must be filed with the NC Division of Environmental Management, NC Division of Environmental Health, and the NC Division of Community Assistance.

Every proposed amendment, supplement, change, modification, or repeal of this Ordinance which may affect the county's compliance with the watershed protection rules shall be referred to the Board of Adjustment for its review and recommendation.

Within forty (40) days after its first review of the petition, the Board of Adjustment shall render its decision and transmit to the County Commissioners its recommendation and report, including the reasons for its determinations.

In case of a protest against any amendment to the regulations or district boundaries established by this Ordinance, signed by the owners of twenty (20%) percent or more either of the area of the lots included in such proposed change, or of those immediately adjacent thereto, either in the rear thereof or on either side thereof, extending one hundred (100) feet there from, or of those directly opposite thereto extending one hundred (100) feet from the street frontage of such opposite lots; such amendments shall not become effective except by favorable vote of three-fourths (¾) of all the members of the Board of County Commissioners. These provisions shall not, however, apply to any amendment which initially zones property added to the territorial coverage of the Ordinance.

No protest against any change in or amendment to the regulations or district boundaries established by this Ordinance shall be valid or effective under the provisions of the foregoing paragraph unless it is in the form of a written petition actually bearing the signatures of the requisite number of property owners and stating that the signers do protest the proposed change or amendment, and unless it shall have been received by the Zoning Administrator in sufficient time to allow at least [two] (2) normal work days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, before the date established for a public hearing on the proposed change or amendment to determine the sufficiency and accuracy of the petition.

Any application submitted in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 for the purpose of amending the regulations or district boundaries established by this Ordinance may be withdrawn at any time, but fees are nonrefundable.