The city Planning Commission shall consist of five (5) appointive members, all of whom shall be citizens of the city. The City Manager and City Engineer shall serve as ex officio members of the commission. The five (5) appointive members shall be nominated by the mayor and appointed by the City Council, and shall serve for terms of three (3) years. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired terms. The members shall serve without compensation. The City Council may remove a member of the Planning Commission without cause.

The city Planning Commission shall annually elect a chairman, a vice-chairman and a secretary, who shall serve until the regular meeting on or after the first Monday in May after their election or until their successors are elected and qualify. The secretary need not be a member of the commission. The commission shall determine the times and place of its regular meetings; and the chairman, the mayor or any three (3) members may call special meetings of the commission. The commission may employ engineers, attorneys, clerks and other help deemed necessary, subject to the approval of the City Council. Their salaries and compensation shall be fixed by the City Council, and shall be paid out of the city treasury as other legal expenses of the city government are paid.

The city Planning Commission shall prepare from time to time plans for the systematic development and betterment of the city as a place of residence or for business. It may consider and investigate any subject matter tending to the development and betterment of the city, and make such recommendations as it may deem advisable concerning the adoption thereof, to any department, officer or agency of the city government, and make or cause to be make surveys, maps and plans for any purpose. It shall have all the powers and duties conferred upon a city Planning Commission by state law and city Planning and Zoning Code.

A.

The city Planning Commission is hereby appointed the zoning commission of the city. The city Planning Commission shall have the powers of zoning commissions provided by state law. Whether exercising the powers of a Planning Commission or the powers of a zoning commission, it shall be legally one board known as the Planning Commission.

B.

In exercising the powers of a zoning commission, the Planning Commission shall recommend the boundaries of the various zones and appropriate zoning regulations to be enforced therein, and any changes therein which it may deem desirable from time to time.

A.

The Planning Commission shall make recommendations on zones and regulations and shall hold public hearings thereon before submitting its recommendations to the City Council. The City Council shall not hold public hearings nor take action on the report until the City Council has received such report from the Planning Commission.

B.

No zoning regulation, restriction or boundary, nor any change therein, shall become effective until after a public hearing is held before the City Council in relation thereto, at which interested parties and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in a official paper or a paper of general circulation in the city. The notice shall include a map of the area to be affected which indicated street names or numbers, streams, or other significant landmarks in the areas.

C.

Protests against proposed changes shall be filed at least three (3) days before the date of the public hearings. If the protests are filed by:

1.

The owners of twenty percent (20%) or more of the area of the lots included in a proposed change; or

2.

The owners of fifty percent (50%) or more of the area of the lots within a three hundred (300) foot radius of the exterior boundary of the territory included in a proposed change;

then the proposed change or amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of four-fifths (4/5) of the members of the governing body.

D.

In addition to the notice requirements subparagraph B above, notice of a public hearing on any proposed zoning change shall be given twenty (20) days prior to the hearing by mailing written notice by the City Clerk to all owners of property within three hundred feet of the area proposed for rezoning. The notice shall contain:

1.

Legal description of the property and the street address or approximate location in the municipality;

2.

Present zoning and classification of the property and the classification sought by the applicant; and

3.

Date, time and place of the public hearing.

In addition to the written notice requirements, notice may also be given by posting notice of such hearing on the affected property at least twenty (20) days before the date of the hearing.

E.

The fee for filing a rezoning application with the City shall be established by resolution of the City Council. The applicant for rezoning shall pay the actual cost of certified mailing and publication to the extent the same exceeds the sum of Fifty Dollars ($50.00). The sum shall be due immediately upon billing and must be paid prior to consideration of the application of the rezoning request by the City Council.

State Law reference— Public hearings, and related procedures, 11 O.S. Sections 43-104 to 43-106.

A zoning board of adjustment is hereby created. The board or adjustment shall be composed of five (5) members, citizens of the city, each appointed by the mayor with the approval of the council for a term of three (3) years; provided however, that for the first appointment under the provisions of the article, one member shall be appointed for a term of one year; two (2) members shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years; and two (2) members shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years. All appointments thereafter shall be for a term of three (3) years. Not less than two (2) members shall be appointed from the membership of the Planning Commission.

The board of adjustment shall elect one of its members as chairman, who shall serve for the duration of his term. The board shall appoint a secretary who may be an officer of the municipality. The board meetings shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. The chairman, or in his absence, the acting chairman, may administer oaths and require the attendance of witnesses by subpoena. The board shall keep the minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall be immediately filed in the office of the board and shall be a public record. All meetings of the board shall be open to the public.

A.

The board of adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or modify any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of the zoning Planning and Zoning Code which has been appealed to the board. The board may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made. The board of adjustment shall also make special exceptions to the terms of the zoning Planning and Zoning Code in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards in harmony with the general purpose and intent and only in accordance with general or specific provisions contained in the zoning Planning and Zoning Code.

B.

Appeals shall be taken within thirty (30) days after the decision of the administrative official, by filing with the City clerk and the board of adjustment a notice of appeal specifying the grounds therefore and paying a filing fee established by resolution of the City Council. The City Clerk shall transmit to the board all of the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

C.

Any person may make an application for a variance from the terms of the zoning Planning and Zoning Code by filing the application with the City Clerk and the board of adjustment specifying the applicable Planning and Zoning Code for which special exception or a variance is requested and paying to the City Clerk a filing fee established by resolution of the City Council.

D.

Notice of any public hearing on an appeal or application for exception or variance before the board of adjustment shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality and by written notice mailed by the City Clerk to all owners of property within a three hundred (300) foot radius of the exterior boundary of the subject property. A copy of the published notice may be mailed in lieu of written notice; however, the notice by publication and written notice shall be published and mailed at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing.

E.

The notice, whether by publication or mail, of a public hearing before the board of adjustment shall contain:

1.

Legal description of the property and the street address or approximate location in the municipality;

2.

Present zoning classification of the property and the nature of the appeal, variance or exception requested; and

3.

Date, time and place of the hearing.

The board of adjustment shall have the following powers to:

A.

Hear and decide appeals if it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of any zoning Planning and Zoning Code;

B.

Hear and decide special exceptions to the zoning Planning and Zoning Code to allow a use, or a specifically designated element associated with a use, which is not permitted by right in a particular district because of potential adverse effect, but which if controlled in the particular instance as to its relationship to the neighborhood and to the general welfare, may be permitted by the board of adjustment, where specifically authorized by the zoning Planning and Zoning Code, and in accordance with the substantive and procedural standards of the zoning Planning and Zoning Code;

C.

Authorize in specific cases a variance from the terms, standards and criteria that pertain to an allowed use category within a zoning district as authorized by the zoning Planning and Zoning Code when such cases are shown not to be contrary to the public interest if, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of the Planning and Zoning Code will result in unnecessary hardship and so that the spirit of the Planning and Zoning Code shall be observed and substantial justice done; provided, however, the board shall have no power to authorize variances as to use except as provided by paragraph 4 of this section;

In exercising the above powers, the board of adjustment shall have the concurring vote of at least three (3) of its members in order that it may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination, and to that end shall have all the powers for directing the issuance of a permit.

Exceptions and/or variances may be allowed by the board of adjustment only after notice and hearing as provided in this code. The record of the meeting at which the variance of special exception was granted shall show that each element of a variance or special exception was established at the public hearing on the question, otherwise said variance or special exception shall be voidable on appeal to the District Court.

A.

When exercising the powers provided for in this chapter, the board of adjustment, in conformity with the provisions of the Planning and Zoning Code, may reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, or modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination from which appealed and may make such order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made.

B.

The concurring vote of at least three (3) members of the board of adjustment shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination being appealed from, to decide in favor of the applicant, or to decide any matter which may properly come before it.

The Board of Adjustment is authorized to make special exceptions to specific uses allowed within each zoning category according to the zoning Planning and Zoning Code in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards in harmony with its general purpose and intent and only in accordance with general or specific provisions contained in the zoning Planning and Zoning Code.

A variance from the terms, standards and criteria that pertain to an allowed use category within a zoning district as authorized by the zoning Planning and Zoning Code may be granted, in whole, in part, or upon reasonable conditions as provided in this article, only upon a finding by the board of adjustment that:

A.

The application of the Planning and Zoning Code to the particular piece of property would create an unnecessary hardship;

B.

Such conditions are peculiar to the particular piece of property involved;

C.

Relief, if granted, would not cause substantial detriment to the public good, or impair the purposes and intent of the Planning and Zoning Code or the comprehensive plan; and

D.

The variance, if granted, would be the minimum necessary to alleviate the unnecessary hardship.

The applicant for variance has the burden of proof of showing that granting of variance will not be contrary to public interest, that literal enforcement of zoning Planning and Zoning Code will result in unnecessary hardship, that by granting the variance the spirit of Planning and Zoning Code will be observed, and that by granting the variance, substantial justice will be done.