Richmond Heights City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIII
Amendments and Changes
Section 405.580 Amendments.
[Ord. No. 4238 §2(604.5), 10-3-1988; Ord. No. 4274 §15, 6-5-1989; Ord. No. 4313 §7, 3-5-1990; Ord. No. 4749 §2, 9-20-1999]
A.
Requirements. The City Council shall have the authority to amend, supplement, change, modify or repeal by ordinance the text and/or map of this Chapter in accordance with the provisions of this Section.
1.
Text amendments. An application for amendment to the written text of this Chapter may be filed in the office of the Zoning Administrator for consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council. Such application may be initiated by any member of the City Council, the Zoning Administrator, the Commission or by any other interested person of the City.
2.
Rezoning with site plan review. An application for a change in the zoning designation as described by the Official Zoning Map may be filed in the office of the Zoning Administrator for consideration by the Commission and the City Council. Such application may be filed by any member of the City Council, the Zoning Administrator, the Commission, the Board of Adjustment, or by any person with a financial, contractual or proprietary interest in the property.
B.
Application And Submission Requirements. The application shall be made on a form provided by the Zoning Administrator. Said application shall be signed by the applicant and shall state name and address as well as:
1.
Text amendments. An application for an amendment to the text of this Chapter shall set forth the new text to be added and existing text to be deleted.
2.
Rezoning without site plan approval. An application for a Zoning Map change shall include twenty (20) copies of the following:
a.
A legal description of the property.
b.
A scaled map of the property, correlated with the legal description, and clearly showing the property's location.
c.
The petitioner's interest in the property and, if the petitioner is not the owner, the name and address of the owner(s).
d.
Date of filing with the Zoning Administrator.
e.
Signature(s) of petitioner(s) and owner(s) certifying the accuracy of the required information.
f.
The present and proposed zoning.
g.
A complete list of the names and addresses of all property owners within three hundred (300) lineal feet of any point of the property, including those property owners across street rights-of-way and railroad rights-of-way.
3.
Rezoning with site plan review. An application for a Zoning Map change shall include twenty (20) copies of the following:
a.
The completed application form.
b.
A copy of the receipt showing all fees paid.
c.
A site plan complying with the requirements of Section 405.390.
An application for either a text amendment or rezoning shall comply with procedures governing the same adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. In all cases where an application is initiated by a private party, the application shall be accompanied by the fee established by the City Council and on file in the offices of the City Clerk and Zoning Administrator. |
C.
Hearings Before Public Bodies. All applications for text amendment and/or rezoning shall be set down for hearing before the Commission not later than the second (2nd) regular monthly meeting of the Commission from the date of filing the same. Any such hearing may, for good cause at the request of the applicant or in the discretion of the Commission, be continued. At least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in an official newspaper or a newspaper of general circulation within the City.
1.
The City will be responsible for notifying by mail all property owners within the City limits whose property lies within three hundred (300) lineal feet of that which has been requested to be rezoned. Such notice shall be postmarked at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing.
2.
Upon the final hearing of such application, the Commission shall approve or deny the same, and a report of its action, together with a recommendation for final approval or denial, shall be made by the Commission to the City Council.
3.
Before acting upon any application for rezoning, the City Council shall set a time and place for a hearing thereon, and at least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in a paper of general circulation in the City.
The City Council may refer the application back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for additional study of specific matters before final decision, providing the Council supplies to the Commission pertinent and/or new information; however, no notice other than for the first (1st) public hearing need be given. |
D.
Findings Of Fact. In reviewing any petition for a zoning amendment, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall identify and evaluate all factors relevant to the petition and shall report its findings in full, along with its recommendations for disposition of the petition, to the City Council. The facts to be considered by the Commission shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
1.
How the proposed amendment would conform to the Comprehensive Plan;
2.
Why the existing zoning district classification of the property in question is inappropriate or improper;
3.
What major economic, physical or social changes, if any, have occurred in the vicinity of the property in question that were not anticipated by the Comprehensive Plan and have substantially altered the basic character of the area, which make the proposed amendment to the Zoning District Map appropriate.
E.
Burden Of Proof. In assessing the relevance or acceptability of a rezoning application, the burden of proof in justifying the request shall rest with the applicant, both before the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as the City Council.
F.
Approval Of Request.
1.
Confirming Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation. All text amendments and amendments to the Zoning Map, as described herein, shall be made by ordinance and shall require only a simple majority vote by the City Council unless protested as stated hereafter.
2.
Citizen protests. In case a protest against such revision or amendment is presented, duly signed, notarized and acknowledged by the owners of ten percent (10%) or more of the areas of the land (exclusive of streets and alleys) included in such proposed change, or thirty percent (30%) of the owners within an area determined by lines drawn parallel to and one hundred eighty-five (185) feet distant from the boundaries of the district proposed to be changed, such revision or amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three-fourths (¾) of all the members of the City Council.
3.
Approval of rezoning portion of property. The Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend that a petition for a change of zoning district classification be approved or denied for all or part of the property described in the petition. The City Council may enact by ordinance such partial granting of a petition for a change in zoning district classification.
4.
Approval of different classification. The Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend and the City Council may enact by ordinance a zoning district classification other than that requested in the petition, provided that the recommendation or ordinance is for a district classification of the same use type as that requested by the petitioner. District classification of the same type as referred to in this Section shall include the "PD" Planned District when a petitioner proposes a particular use and presents plans at or prior to the public hearing which are substantially similar to those required by the "PD" rezoning procedures.
5.
Approval of requests involving site plan review. In those instances where an application for rezoning involves site plan approval, the following procedures shall be followed:
a.
Final approval of the site plan shall be by the City Council as if an appeal had been filed as outlined in Section 405.390.
b.
Final approval of the site plan by the City Council shall be by ordinance including all conditions and/or restrictions placed on the approval.
c.
Final approval of the site plan will be scheduled to take place immediately following approval of the rezoning.
G.
Withdrawal. Any amendment request, regardless of its source of initiation, may be withdrawn from consideration at any point in the approval process prior to final action on the request by the City Council.
H.
Reapplication. In the event that any application to amend the Zoning Map is denied on final review by the City Council, reapplication for the purposes of further review of the same application shall not be accepted by the City until six (6) months following the date of final action on the original application has elapsed, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Planning and Zoning Commission that substantial new evidence not available during review of the original application will be presented.