Snow Hill City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Amendments
§ 200-134 Amendments.
A.
Authorization. The Mayor and Council may from time to time, after public notice and hearing as hereinafter prescribed, amend, supplement, change or repeal this chapter, including the text and the Zoning Map. Any amendment, supplement, change or repeal may be initiated by the Planning Commission, the Mayor and Council or by a petition to the Mayor and Council. Such amendment, supplement, change or repeal shall be specifically found by the Mayor and Council to be in accordance with the spirit and intent of the Comprehensive Plan before such amendatory ordinance shall be adopted by the Mayor and Council.
B.
Initiation.
(1)
Amendment initiated by the Planning Commission. When an amendment, supplement, change or repeal is initiated by the Planning Commission, the proposal shall be presented to the Mayor and Council, which shall then proceed in the same manner as with a petition to them which has already been reviewed by the Planning Commission.
(2)
Amendment initiated by the Mayor and Council. When an amendment, supplement, change or repeal is initiated by the Mayor and Council, it shall submit the proposal to the Planning Commission for review and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of Subsection C of this section.
(3)
Amendment initiated by petition. A petition for an amendment, supplement, change or repeal by a property owner shall be in the form as prescribed by the Planning Commission and shall be filed with the Mayor and Council and shall be signed by at least one record owner of the property in question. The fee established by the Mayor and Council shall be paid upon the filing of such petition, together with the costs of advertising and any other costs incurred. The Mayor and Council shall submit the proposal to the Planning Commission for review and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of Subsection C of this section.
C.
Procedure before Planning Commission.
(1)
After receipt of a proposal or petition from the Mayor and Council, the Planning Commission shall make such investigations as it deems appropriate and necessary and may require the submission of pertinent information by any persons concerned and may hold such formal or informal public hearings as are appropriate in the Planning Commission's judgment.
(2)
If a public hearing is held by the Planning Commission, notice shall be given at least 14 days prior to the hearing by publishing the time, place and nature of the hearing in a newspaper having general circulation in the Town once each week for two successive weeks. In addition, the Commission shall cause the date, time, place and nature of the hearing to be posted conspicuously on the property in accordance with the rules of the Commission. The published and posted notices shall contain reference to the place or places within the Town where the plans, ordinances or amendments may be examined.
(3)
The Planning Commission shall formulate its recommendation on said amendment and shall submit its recommendation and pertinent supporting information to the Mayor and Council within 60 days after the presentation of the proposal or petition to the Planning Commission, unless an extension of time is granted by the Mayor and Council.
(4)
If the Planning Commission shall fail to file such a report within the time and in the manner specified, it shall be conclusively presumed that the Planning Commission has approved the proposed amendment, supplement, change or repeal.
D.
Action by the Mayor and Council.
(1)
Public hearing. Following the Planning Commission's consideration, the Mayor and Council shall hold at least one public hearing. The Mayor and Council shall publish notice of the time and place of the public hearing, together with a summary of the proposed zoning regulation or boundary, in at least one newspaper of general circulation in Snow Hill once each week for two successive weeks with the first notice of the hearing appearing at least 14 days before the hearing. At the time and place specified, the Mayor and Council shall conduct a hearing on said petition to amend, supplement, change or repeal the zoning chapter or Zoning Map, at which time all interested parties and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. Thereafter, within a period of 60 days, the Mayor and Council shall either reject the proposed change or adopt the ordinance implementing the proposed change. The Mayor and Council may adjourn said hearing, at their discretion, to a time and place certain.
(2)
Legislation. All amendments to the zoning chapter shall be considered as legislative acts and shall be processed in accordance with all rules pertaining to such acts.
E.
Map amendments.
(1)
Where the purpose and effect of the proposed amendment is to change the zoning classification of a particular parcel(s) of property, the Mayor and Council shall make findings of fact in each specific case including, but not limited to, the following matters:
(2)
The Mayor and Council may grant the reclassification based upon a specific determination and factually supported finding that there has been a substantial change in the character of the area where the property is located, or that there is a mistake in the existing zoning classification.
(3)
The zoning regulation or boundary amendment may not become effective until 10 days after the hearing or hearings.
(4)
The change or mistake standard does not apply to regional or comprehensive rezoning map amendments or to floating zone amendments.
(5)
The fact that an application for reclassification complies with all the specific requirements and purposes set forth in this chapter shall not be deemed to create a presumption that the proposed reclassification and resulting development would, in fact, be compatible with surrounding land uses and is not, in itself, sufficient to require the granting of the application.
(6)
Application requirements. Every application for a map amendment shall be accompanied by a plat, drawn to scale, showing the existing and proposed district and property boundaries and such other information as the Code Enforcement Officer may need in order to locate and plot the amendment on the official Zoning Maps.
F.
Time limitation for reconsideration. Whenever a petition requesting an amendment, supplement or change has been denied by the Mayor and Council, such petition or one substantially similar shall not be reconsidered sooner than one year after the previous denial.
G.
Authentication of official Zoning Map. Whenever there has been an amendment in the Zoning Map adopted in accordance with the above, it shall be immediately noted upon the Official Map and shall be duly certified by the Town Clerk and shall thereafter be refiled as part of the permanent records of the Town.
§ 200-135 Public notice.
A.
Generally. Unless otherwise expressly provided by law, all notices to the general public required for the terms of this title shall be made as follows:
(1)
By the posting of a reasonably sized sign upon the property which is the subject of the proceedings as follows:
(a)
The sign shall be of sufficient size to reasonably advise the public of the fact of the public hearing and shall be posted not less than 15 days prior to the public hearing.
(b)
The sign shall be posted (to the extent possible) within a reasonable distance of a public road serving or near the property so as (to the extent possible) to be reasonably visible to the public.
(2)
Posting requirements shall be subject to the following modifications and provisions:
(a)
Except in the case of the fifteen-day requirement, reasonable, good-faith compliance with the above requirements, as determined by the hearing agency, shall be sufficient.
(b)
Where the property lines are difficult to ascertain, posting on an adjacent property may be found to be sufficient.
(c)
Evidence of the posting shall be provided at the public hearing, but no evidence that the sign remained standing during the period of posting shall be required.
(d)
When a posted sign is destroyed or removed, the property shall be reposted upon written request, but the date of posting shall be the date of original posting.
(e)
The hearing agency shall have the authority to determine whether or not a good-faith effort to comply with the posting requirements is sufficient to satisfy the intent of such requirements so as to reasonably advise the public of the pending proceeding.
B.
Any applicant and/or owner of the property subject to the proceedings shall be deemed to have consented to the entry by the public upon the property for the purpose of viewing any sign.
C.
Posting shall not be required for proposed sectional or comprehensive map amendment procedures or for proposed amendments to the text of this title.