A Planning and Zoning Commission is hereby established in and for the City, consisting of seven members, namely, the Mayor, the Director of Public Service and five residents of the community to serve without compensation. Such residents shall reside within the limits of the City and shall not hold elected positions in any local, county, regional or State government, or in the Federal Government. The residents serving on the Commission shall be appointed by the Mayor to six-year terms. Upon the resignation, death or expulsion of a Commission member, the remaining Commission members may, at their option, and if the Mayor has failed to appoint a new member within thirty days of such death, resignation or expulsion, and by a majority vote, appoint a qualifying resident of the community to serve in the place of the deceased, resigned or expelled member until the first meeting in the month of January next succeeding the death, resignation or expulsion, at which time the Mayor shall appoint a qualifying member to complete the unexpired term of the deceased, resigned or expelled member. Those resident members of the Commission serving on the Commission as of January 1, 1984, shall complete the terms of their appointments to the Commission as originally made to promote continuity of the membership of the Commission. The City Engineer shall be a nonvoting member of the Commission and shall advise the Commission as to technical aspects of matters for action at the instance of the Commission. An absence of four out of twelve consecutive meetings by a member shall be cause for replacement of that member on the Commission.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   The Mayor shall be the Chairperson of the Commission during the tenure of his or her office. However, the Mayor, at his or her option, may appoint a resident member of the Commission to serve as Chairperson for an annual term at the first January meeting of the Commission. In the absence at a meeting of the Chairperson serving as above stated, the member with the most seniority of the members present at the meeting shall serve in the capacity as Chairperson Pro Tem. The Chairperson shall preside over all meetings, receive and direct all official correspondence and communications of the Commission, and, by his or her signature, approve, on behalf of all members, all official actions of the Commission duly approved and authorized by the Commission and all documents registering the decisions, determinations and recommendations of the Commission as a body. There shall be established a Recording Secretary, who shall not be a member of the Commission, to take down the minutes of the Commission meetings, to preserve and maintain the records, documents and reports by and to the Commission and to preserve all ordinances and resolutions of the Commission and Council bearing on the business of the Commission.

   The Commission, by resolution, shall establish the time and place of the meetings of the Commission, and notice of such meetings and the agenda as established for a meeting shall be posted in a conspicuous place in City Hall by the Recording Secretary at least ten days prior to the upcoming meeting. A special meeting may be convened by written authorization of at least four members of the Commission at any time, provided that notice of such special meeting shall be sent to Commission members at least ten days before the convening of such special meeting. The Recording Secretary shall be charged with the duty of preparing the agenda with the supervision of the Chairperson, and the Commission may by resolution establish the regulations and requirements of qualifying for insertion upon the agenda, including the form of application to be used and the deadline for inclusion upon the agenda to be considered at Commission meetings.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   The purpose of the Commission is to apply the ordinances of the City pertaining to planning and zoning and the laws of the State and the Constitution of the United States to promote the health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity and general welfare of the public, as an independent entity free of the constraints of religion, profit and politics. Although it is an administrative and not an adjudicative body, the Commission, by and through its members, covenants to provide fairness and good faith in its functions and to avoid discrimination and conflicts of interest.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   Subject to ordinances of the City which may limit, expand or modify the following, the Commission shall exercise and is hereby authorized to undertake those powers and provisions as set forth in Ohio R.C. 713.02 to 713.10, except those functions, powers and authority granted under the Zoning Code to the Board of Zoning Appeals, including, but not limited to, the establishment of plans and maps or modifications thereto of the Municipality and related land with respect to its purpose outside of the Municipality, and in accordance with Ohio R.C. 713.02 to 713.10, inclusive, which sections are hereby incorporated herein.

   The Commission shall also have all the powers and duties of the Platting Commission as set forth in Ohio R.C. 735.17 to 735.26, inclusive. The City Engineer shall be the Platting Commissioner of the City and shall exercise those powers and duties set forth in Ohio R.C. 735.17.

   The Commission shall also have the authority to grant or deny the issuance of conditional use certificates as provided in Chapter 1274.

   The Commission shall also review and, as a necessary condition prior to the issuance of a building permit by the Chief Building Official, approve all site plans for all buildings and improvements to land located within the Municipality other than single-family residences, private garages or uses or buildings accessory thereto, including planned unit developments, by examining such site plans for compliance with the ordinances of the City and the laws of the State, including, but not limited to, Section 1262.03 as to requirements for site plan submissions.

   The Commission shall also review and supervise for compliance with applicable Municipal ordinances and laws of the State all proposals and applications for subdivisions within the City and within three miles of the City limits.

   The Commission is also authorized to make recommendations for approval to Council for requests made to the Commission for zoning and rezoning of land, waivers of the building requirements of the Zoning Code, including, but not limited to, height, bulk, design, setbacks and location of buildings; dedication, vacation, narrowing and expanding of public ways; and designation of certain existing structures as historical landmarks.

   The Commission shall also, at the request of Council, perform such studies and prepare such reports as are submitted by Council to the Commission.

   The Commission may also control, appoint or employ such architects, engineers, social scientists, surveyors and other professionals, as professionals are defined as qualifying for incorporation as a professional association by the Ohio Revised Code, and may appoint such clerks, draftsmen and other subordinates as are necessary for the performance of the functions of the Commission. The expenditures for such services or employment shall be borne either by funds appropriated by Council or by the particular applicant to the Commission for services declared necessary by the Commission for study and review of the proposal of the applicant and as a condition thereto. However, in such case as the Commission determines, as a condition for review and study of a proposal by an applicant, that such applicant bear such expenditures, a vote of five members of the Commission is necessary to provide for such condition.

   The Commission may also approve a use not specifically listed as permitted in a zoning district, other than a residential zoning district, provided that the Commission determines that the proposed use is similar to and in harmony with those permitted uses in the same district as to amount of traffic generated, employees required, hours of operation and services required. Any such approval of the Commission of such use shall be subject to veto by Council at the Council meeting immediately following the approval of such use by the Commission.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   Before the Commission considers a proposal within its authority under this chapter, the Zoning Code and related ordinances, the matter to be presented for consideration by the Commission shall be made by appropriate application completed by its proponent on a form devised and approved for use by resolution of the Commission. The Commission may, by resolution, establish such requirements, necessary to the competent pursuit of its functions, to be included in such application. A proponent of an application is encouraged to informally discuss the objects and details of the proposal with any Commission member or appropriate City official, including the City Engineer, prior to submission of the application, which shall be submitted to the Recording Secretary of the Commission and be accompanied by an application fee to merit inclusion on the agenda of a Commission meeting. An initial application fee, in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00), shall accompany each application, payable by check or money order to the City, deposited with the Recording Secretary. The Commission, as a condition to approval of a proposal by way of application, may require a deposit with the Recording Secretary, made payable to the City, by check or money order, of a sum set for a technical site plan review, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000), in addition to the initial application fee, by the proponent, as compensation for duties performed or to be performed as assigned by the Commission to the City Engineer for ongoing evaluation by the City Engineer for compliance of the technical aspects of the proposal with the ordinances of the City and laws of the State. Such deposit shall be reasonably apportioned as based upon the time spent as logged by the City Engineer and/or his or her employees on the project, to its completion and the approval of final site plans or other evaluation deemed necessary by the Commission. If a proponent objects or disagrees with the amount of a deposit deemed necessary by the Commission, and, but for the deposit deemed necessary by the Commission as a condition of approval, the proposal would merit approval by the Commission, the proponent may apply to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a determination and assessment of the reasonableness and amount of the deposit. The Board may either confirm, deny the necessity of or modify the amount of the deposit, and the decision of the Board shall be final. In any event, the proponent, at the completion of the proposal and upon final compliance with the conditions imposed by the Commission for approval and with ordinances of the City, laws of the State and regulations of the Commission and appropriate City authorities and departments, shall be entitled to any refund of the deposit remaining if the Commission, upon report of the City Engineer, determines that the amount deposited was in excess of the reasonable time expended by the City Engineer for the study and evaluation of the proposal to completion. Any sums deposited with the City as a condition for approval shall be noninterest bearing.

   Any application for a proposal submitted to the Commission and approved shall be considered abandoned by the proponent if the proponent, after approval, fails or neglects for any reason whatsoever to take steps to implement such proposal within one year of the approval. After the expiration of one year, if steps are not taken by the proponent to proceed further, the proponent shall reapply to the Commission for approval again.

   Any application by a proponent conditionally approved by the Commission may be reconsidered by the Commission upon proper motion at a Commission meeting and with adequate notification to the proponent by the Recording Secretary, on the grounds that reports, studies and facts not presented to the Commission at the time of original conditional approval may jeopardize compliance of the proponent with the ordinances of the City, laws of the State and regulations of governmental authorities and departments and the health, safety and general welfare of the community, or on the grounds that the proponent has not complied with the conditions of the original approval or the reasonable requirements of the departments of the City to which the Commission has assigned the ongoing duty of supervision of such proposed development for compliance as set forth above. Upon reconsideration, the Commission may, by a vote of at least four members, revoke the original approval of such application or impose new conditions on the original approval.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   Any individual aggrieved by a determination of the Commission involving a matter under its authority, but not involving a matter about which the Commission is empowered solely to recommend to Council for legislative action under the ordinances of the City or the laws of the State, and not involving those determinations within the authority of the Chief Building Official, may appeal such decision of the Commission, whether a denial or approval of an application, a reconsideration (after final action has been made by the Commission) or a revocation of approval of an application, to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Such aggrieved individual, to perfect the appeal, shall deliver written notice of the grounds of the appeal to the Recording Secretary of the Commission or the Chairperson, and to the Clerk of the Board of Zoning Appeals, within ten days of the Commission meeting at which the Commission made such decision or determination for which the individual claims to be aggrieved. In this action, aggrieved individual or individual aggrieved means the proponent who signed the application as submitted to the Commission, or the City of Ravenna. Failure to comply strictly herein with the provisions pertaining to appeal rights shall be deemed jurisdictional and shall operate to render any further action by the aggrieved individual moot and void.

(Ord. 1984-48. Passed 10-15-85.)

   Any application pertaining to the zoning or rezoning of land, the vacation, narrowing or widening of public ways, or the designation by the Commission of a site, structure or improvement as a historical monument, shall require that notice of such proposal be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City not earlier than ten and not later than two days preceding the Commission meeting at which such application is considered. In addition to the initial application fee, the proponent of the application shall bear the cost and expense of such publication of notice, to be payable to the City by check or money order at the office of the Recording Secretary or the Mayor within ten days of the Commission meeting at which the application is presented by the proponent.

   Further, there shall be a twenty-four inch by thirty-six inch sign posted advising any interested party of the proposal at least seven days preceding the meeting at which such application is to be considered. Said sign shall remain posted until after the hearing has been adjourned.

(Ord. 2000-051. Passed 4-3-00.)