A.   An amendment to this ordinance text and/or map may be initiated by: City Council on its own motion; the Planning Commission; or by petition of a property owner, vested party or one with a legal interest.

   B.   All petitions for amendments to this ordinance shall be in writing, signed and filed with the city. At this time, the fee established by City Council shall be paid.

   C.   All petitions for amendments to this ordinance, without limiting the right to file additional materials, shall contain at least the following:

      1.   The petitioner's name, address and interest in the petition, as well as the name, address and interest of every person having a legal or an equitable interest in the land covered by the petition. The signature of each party having an interest must be presented on the application;

      2.   A description of the proposed amendment;

      3.   If the proposed amendment would require a change in the zoning map, a fully dimensioned map showing:

         a.   The land which would be affected by the proposed amendment;

         b.   A legal description of such land;

         c.   The present zoning classification of the land.

      4.   An owner may voluntarily offer in writing to use and develop land with a particular use or development as a condition to rezoning or to amendment of the zoning map relating to the land.

         a.   An owner willing to condition rezoning or map amendment upon use or development of the land in a particular manner may request (but shall not be required to obtain) a pre-preliminary review prior to filing a formal petition for rezoning or for map amendment.

         b.   The petitioner's new application request, including the proposed conditions, shall be considered by the Planning Commission during the public hearing prior to making a recommendation on the proposed request to the City Council.

         c.   A request for rezoning or map amendment based upon conditions shall be subject to all of the requirements and procedures set forth in Article 24 which do not conflict with this division, division C.5., and Section 32.04 H.

         d.   The conditions offered by the owner and accepted by the City Council as a condition of the rezoning or map amendment shall be incorporated into a written agreement approved by the owner and the city, including any site plans, elevation plans, landscape plans, signage plans, or other applicable conditions which were offered by the owner and accepted by the city as part of the conditions relating to the rezoning or map amendment. The agreement shall be recorded with the Macomb County Register of Deeds. Any approved final site plan for the proposed use or development must be consistent with the conditions of approval proposed by the owner and accepted by the City Council.

         e.   The owner must receive final site plan approval for the proposed use or development within 12 months of the effective date of the ordinance amendment approving the conditional rezoning or map amendment, obtain a building permit within 18 months of the effective date, and complete development of the proposed development within 30 months of the effective date. If the owner fails to proceed with development of its property in accordance with the mutually agreeable conditions, the zoning of the land reverts to its former zoning classification. This time limitation may be extended by the City Council in response to a request from the owner.

         f.   An owner who develops land with a development or use pursuant to a conditional rezoning or map amendment shall continuously operate and maintain the development or use in compliance with all of the terms and conditions of the conditional rezoning agreement executed by the City and the owner. Any failure to satisfy a condition of rezoning or map amendment incorporated into the written agreement shall constitute a separate violation of the Zoning Ordinance.

         g.   Any rezoning or map amendment approved pursuant to this conditional rezoning or map amendment procedure shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of successor owners of the land in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement.

         h.   The conditions of the rezoning or map amendment offered by the owner and approved by the City Council shall not be altered or added to during the specified time period except as provide in provided in division i. below.

         i.   Any changes to the conditions of the rezoning or map amendment shall be incorporated into a written amendment to the agreement executed by the owner and the city, which shall be recorded with the Macomb County Register of Deeds.

      5.   If a petition for amendment of the zoning classification of a rezoning or map amendment for a parcel of property of land is denied by the City Council, a new application requesting amendment of the current zoning classification to the same requested classification or to a more intense zoning classification shall not be accepted by the Office of Planning for a period of one year after the effective date of such denial unless:

         a.   Changed conditions in the surrounding neighborhood and/or vicinity are clearly evident;

         b.   The provisions of the zoning ordinance relating to the matter previously decided by the City Council have been amended; or

         c.   The new application is filed by a new property owner or party with an interest in the property.

         d.   The denial received by the petitioner related to a request for rezoning or map amendment based upon conditions in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section 32.00C.4. After the City Council makes a determination that such request satisfies one of the exceptions set forth in C.5.a., b., or c., the petitioner may file its application for rezoning for consideration in accordance with the procedures for zoning amendments set forth in Article 32.

         e.   A petitioner who wishes to submit a new application for rezoning or map amendment within the one year period after denial of a request for conditional rezoning or map amendment may do so by filing a new application for rezoning or map amendment accompanied by a new application and fee. The petitioner's new application request shall be considered by the Planning Commission which shall make a recommendation to the City Council after conducting a public hearing in accordance with the procedures applicable to requests for conventional rezoning or map amendment. A petitioner who wishes to submit a new application for rezoning or map amendment within the one year period after denial of a request for rezoning or map amendment that was considered in the conventional manner must submit correspondence demonstrating that the request meets one of the above criteria set forth in Section 32.00 C.5.a., b., or c. The City Council must determine that the petitioner's new request for rezoning or map amendment is within any of the exceptions set forth in C.5.a., b., or c. prior to acceptance of the new application by the Office of Planning and prior to conducting any public hearing.

(Ord. No. 278-CC, § 22, 6-3-03; Ord. No. 278-FF, § 5, 5-3-05)

   A.   Upon receipt of a petition to amend this ordinance, the Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing on any proposed amendment to this ordinance before making a recommendation to the City Council. Notice of the public hearing shall be given according to state law. After the public hearing, the Planning Commission shall forward to the City Council a summary of the comments submitted at the public hearing and its recommendations and report on the proposed amendment.

   A.   Upon receipt of the recommendations and report from the Planning Commission, the city may adopt the ordinance and maps with or without amendments or may refer the ordinance and maps back to the Planning Commission for further study and a supplemental report before taking final action on the proposed amendment.

   B.   An amendment to this zoning ordinance may be passed only by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the City Council if a protest against the proposed amendment is presented to the City Council at or before the time for final action on the amendment. The protest shall be duly signed by:

      1.   The owners of at least 20% of the area of land included in the proposed change, excluding publicly owned land; or

      2.   The owners of at least 20% of the area of land included within an area extending outward 100 feet from any point on the boundary of the land included in the proposed change, excluding publicly owned land.

   C.   Following adoption of an amendment to this ordinance by the City Council, notice of adoption shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. The notice shall include the following information:

      1.   Either a summary of the regulatory effect of the amendment, including the geographic area affected or the text of the amendment;

      2.   This ordinance shall be effective upon the expiration of seven days after publication of a notice of adoption;

      3.   The place and time where a copy of the ordinance may be purchased or inspected.

(Ord. No. 278-NN, § 32, 1-6-09)

   All petitions for amendments to this ordinance shall be in writing, signed and filed with the City Clerk on forms provided by the city and according to the administrative provisions established by the city. At this time, the fee established by City Council to cover the cost of processing, erection of public notice signs and hearings shall be paid.

(Ord. No. 278-X, § 22, 4-6-99)

   All petitions for amendments to this ordinance, without limiting the rights to file additional material, shall contain at least the following:

   A.    The petitioner’s name, address and verified interest in the petition, as well as the name, address and interest of every person having a legal or an equitable interest in the land covered by the petition;

   B.   The nature and effect of the proposed amendment;

   C.   If the proposed amendment would require a change in the zoning map, a fully dimensioned map showing:

      1.   The land which would be affected by the proposed amendment;

      2.   A legal description of such land;

      3.   The present zoning classification of the land;

      4.   The zoning classification of all abutting districts;

      5.   All public and private rights-of-way and easements bounding and intersecting the land under consideration.

         An application for approval of a rezoning shall not be processed or placed on an agenda for a public hearing until the site for which the rezoning has been requested is subject to any outstanding, unresolved Property Maintenance Code violation. Any outstanding Property Maintenance Code violation must be first resolved by correcting the violation or by having the applicant/property owner sign a written code compliance agreement with the City setting forth a written commitment by the applicant/property owner to bring the site and/or building into full compliance with all provisions of the Property Maintenance Code within a specific time period acceptable to the City Development Director.

   D.   If the proposed amendment would require a change in the zoning map, the names and addresses of the owners of all land within the area to be changed by the proposed amendment.

   E.   The alleged error in this ordinance, if any, which would be corrected by the proposed amendment, together with a detailed explanation of such error in the ordinance which is alleged and detailed reasons as to how the proposed amendment will correct the same.

   F.   The changed or changing conditions, if any, in the area or in the municipality generally which make the proposed amendment reasonably necessary.

   G.   All other circumstances, factors and reasons which applicant offers in support of the proposed amendment.

   H.   If the proposed request for rezoning or zoning map amendment includes conditions upon which the owner proposes to develop the land with a particular development or use, the owner may submit with the petition any documentation or information related to its proposed development, including but not limited to the following materials (in addition to those required by division A. through G.):

      1.   A detailed site plan for the proposed use or development of the land showing proposed buildings, setbacks, driveways, parking and other information required by Article 26 of the Zoning Ordinance.

      2.   Elevation drawings for any proposed buildings or structures to be constructed on the land, and descriptions of building materials to be incorporated.

      3.   Landscape plans showing the proposed landscaping and screening of the use or development of the property.

      4.   Signage plans showing the proposed signage to be installed as part of the proposed development or use of the land.

      5.    A written agreement specifying the conditions of approval voluntarily offered by the petitioner as a condition to approval of a rezoning or map amendment of the property, which may include site plans, elevation drawings, landscape plans, signage plans or other document that assist in identifying the conditions that have been proposed by the owner and accepted by the city.

      6.   The time period during which the owner intends to proceed with and complete development of the land in the manner proposed in the agreement (including interim benchmarks such as anticipated time to obtain site plan approval and securing of building permits), and after which the zoning change made by the rezoning or map amendment shall revert to the former zoning classification unless the time period is extended by the city.

   I.   Approval of a rezoning or map amendment by the City Council conditioned upon development or use of land in a particular manner with a use which is a special approval land use under the Zoning Ordinance shall not require separate special approval land use if the development or use has been approved by the City Council as part of the conditional rezoning or map amendment for the land.

   J.   Approval of a rezoning or map amendment by the City Council conditioned upon development or use of land in a particular manner with a use or in a manner which requires a variance or modification of the standards set forth in the Zoning Ordinance shall not require separate approval of the variance or modification if the development or use has been approved by the City Council with the variance or modification included as part of the conditional rezoning or map amendment for the land.

   K.   An owner shall not be required to propose voluntary conditions as part of a request for rezoning or map amendment.

   L.   An owner who has filed a request for rezoning or map amendment with conditions may request at any time prior to a final decision of the City Council that the petition be considered as a request for map amendment or rezoning without conditions. In such instances, the petition shall be referred to the Planning Commission for a new public hearing after notice is given as required by law.

(Ord. No. 278-FF, §§ 6-7, 5-3-05; Ord. No. 278-RR, § 6, 10-18-11)

   The Planning Commission, at intervals of not less than three years, shall examine the provisions of this ordinance and shall submit a report to City Council recommending changes, if any, deemed desirable in the interests of public health, safety and welfare.