[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Board of Aldermen of this City shall adopt, amend and carry out a Comprehensive Master Plan and appoint a Planning and Zoning Commission with the powers and duties herein set forth.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006; Ord. No. 2007.06 §1, 3-12-2007; Ord. No. 2014.19A §1, 10-13-2014]
A. 
The Planning and Zoning Commission shall consist of not more than nine (9) nor less than seven (7) voting members as provided for by Section 89.320, RSMo., including:
1. 
The Mayor, if the Mayor chooses to be a member;
2. 
A member of the Board of Aldermen selected by the Board of Aldermen, if the Board of Aldermen chooses to have a member serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission; and
3. 
Not more than nine (9) nor less than five (5) citizens appointed by the Mayor and approved by Board of Aldermen. All citizen members of the Commission shall serve without compensation. The term of each of the citizen members shall be for four (4) years, except that the terms of members first appointed shall be for varying periods, so that succeeding terms will be staggered. Any vacancy in a membership shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment as aforesaid. The Board of Aldermen may remove any citizen member for cause stated in writing and after public hearing.
B. 
The Chair and Secretary shall be elected by Commission members.
C. 
A Secretary Pro Tem elected by the Commission members shall chair the meeting in the absence of the elected officers.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Planning and Zoning Commission shall elect a Chairperson and Secretary from among the citizen members. The term of Chairperson and Secretary shall be for one (1) year with eligibility for re-election. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold regular meetings and special meetings as they provide by rule and shall adopt rules for the transaction of business and keep a record of its proceedings. These records shall be public records. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall appoint the employees and staff necessary for its work and may contract with City planners and other professional persons for the services that it requires. The expenditures of the Planning and Zoning Commission, exclusive of grants and gifts, shall be within the amounts appropriated.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Planning and Zoning Commission shall make and adopt a Comprehensive Master Plan for the physical development of the City. The Comprehensive Master Plan, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts and descriptive and explanatory matter, shall show the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations for the physical development and uses of land and may include, among other things, the general location, character and extent of streets and other public ways, grounds, places and spaces; the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned, the acceptance, widening, removal, extension, relocation, narrowing, vacation, abandonment or change of use of any of the foregoing; the general character, extent and layout of the replanning of blighted districts and slum areas. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall also prepare a zoning plan for the regulation of the height, area, bulk, location and use of private, non-profit and public structures and premises and of population density.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
In the preparation of the Comprehensive Master Plan, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall make careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of the existing conditions and probable future growth of the municipality. The plan shall be made with the purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated development of the municipality which will, in accordance with existing and future needs, best promote the general welfare as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Planning and Zoning Commission may adopt the plan as a whole by a single resolution or, as the work of making the whole plan progresses, may from time to time adopt a part or parts thereof, any part to correspond generally with one (1) or more of the functional subdivisions of the subject matter of the plan. Before the adoption, amendment or extension of the plan or portion thereof, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold at least one (1) public hearing pursuant Section 405.178 through Section 405.180. The adoption of the plan requires a majority vote of the full membership of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The resolution shall refer expressly to the maps, descriptive matter and other matters intended by the Planning and Zoning Commission to form the whole or part of the plan and the action taken shall be recorded on the adopted plan or part thereof by the identifying signature of the Secretary of the Planning and Zoning Commission and filed in the office of the Planning and Zoning Commission, identified properly by file number and a copy of the plan or part thereof shall be certified to the Board of Aldermen and the City Clerk and a copy shall be recorded in the office of the St. Francois County Recorder of Deeds.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
All public officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Planning and Zoning Commission within a reasonable time all available information it requires for its work. The Planning and Zoning Commission, its members and employees in the performance of its functions may enter upon any land to make examinations and surveys. In general, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the power necessary to enable it to perform its functions and promote municipal planning.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
Whenever the Planning and Zoning Commission adopts the Comprehensive Plan or any part thereof, no street or other public facilities or no public utility, whether publicly or privately owned and the location, extent and character thereof having been included in the recommendations and proposals of the plan or portions thereof, shall be constructed or authorized in the municipality until the location, extent and the character thereof has been submitted to and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. In case of disapproval, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall communicate its reasons to the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Aldermen, by vote of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of its entire membership, may overrule the disapproval. The acceptance, widening, removal, extension, relocation, narrowing, vacation, abandonment, change of use, acquisition of land for, sale or lease of any street or other public facility is subject to similar submission and approval and the failure to approve may be similarly overruled. The failure of the Planning and Zoning Commission to act within sixty (60) days after the date of official submission to it shall be deemed approval.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have and perform all of the functions of the Planning and Zoning Commission provided for in Chapter 89, RSMo., and shall have and perform all of the functions of a Planning and Zoning Commission as outlined in said Chapter.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
After the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City adopts a Comprehensive Master Plan which includes at least a major street plan or progresses in its City planning to the making and adoption of a major street plan and files a certified copy of the major street plan in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of St. Francois County, then no plat of a subdivision of land lying within the municipality shall be filed or recorded until it has been submitted to and a report and recommendation thereon made by the Planning and Zoning Commission to the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Aldermen has approved the plat as provided by law.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
Within sixty (60) days after submission of a subdivision plat to the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Commission shall approve or disapprove the plat, otherwise the plat is deemed approved by the Commission, except that the Planning and Zoning Commission, with the consent of the applicant for the approval, may extend the sixty (60) day period. The grounds for disapproval of any plat by the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be made a matter of record.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The approval of a plat by the Planning and Zoning Commission does not constitute or affect an acceptance by the municipality or public of the dedication to public use of any street or other ground shown upon the plat.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
No owner or agent of the owner of any land located within the platting jurisdiction of the City, knowingly or with intent to defraud, may transfer, sell, agree to sell or negotiate to sell that land by reference to or by other use of a plat of any purported subdivision of the land before the plat has been approved by the Board of Aldermen or Planning and Zoning Commission and recorded in the office of the St. Francois County Recorder of Deeds. Any person violating the provisions of this Section shall forfeit and pay to the municipality a penalty not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00) for each lot transferred or sold or agreed or negotiated to be sold and the description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the transaction from this penalty. The City may enjoin or vacate the transfer or sale or agreement by legal action and may recover the penalty in such action.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
Upon adoption of a major street plan and subdivision regulations, the City shall not accept, lay out, open, improve, grade, pave or light any street, lay or authorize the laying of water mains, sewers, connections or other utilities in any street within the municipality unless the street has received the legal status of a public street prior to the adoption of a Comprehensive Master Plan or unless the street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a subdivision plat approved by the Board of Aldermen or the Planning and Zoning Commission or on a street plan made by and adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Board of Aldermen may locate and construct or may accept any other street if the ordinance or other measure for the location and construction or for the acceptance is first submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for its approval and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission or, if disapproved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, is passed by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the entire membership of the Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
After the adoption of a major street plan, no building permit shall be issued for and no building shall be erected on any lot within the territorial jurisdiction of the Planning and Zoning Commission unless the street giving access to the lot upon which the building is proposed to be placed conforms to the requirements above described.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
A. 
The Board of Adjustment shall consist of five (5) members who shall be residents of the City. The members shall be appointed for staggering terms of five (5) years each. Three (3) alternate members may be appointed to serve in the absence of or in the disqualification of the regular members. A member shall not hear an appeal in which that member has any personal, professional or financial interest. The City Engineer or other qualified appointee shall serve as a non-voting advisory member to the Board of Adjustment.
1. 
The Board of Adjustment shall elect its own Chairperson who shall serve for one (1) year. The Mayor shall designate a qualified Clerk to serve as Secretary to the Board of Adjustment.
2. 
All members shall be removable for cause by the appointing authority upon written charges and after public hearings.
3. 
Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term of any member whose term becomes vacant.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
The Board of Adjustment shall adopt rules of procedure as may be necessary and proper to govern its own proceedings; such rules shall not be in conflict with other laws, regulations or ordinances. Meetings of the Board of Adjustment shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as the Board of Adjustment may determine. The Board of Adjustment shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the description of evidence presented, the findings of fact by the Board of Adjustment, the decision of the Board of Adjustment and the vote of each member upon each question or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall be public record.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006; Ord. No. 2010.07 §5, 4-12-2010]
A. 
Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by the person aggrieved, any neighborhood organization as defined in Section 32.105, RSMo., representing such person or by any officer, department or bureau of the City by any decision of the Administrative Officer or Building Inspector. An application for appeal shall be based on a claim that the true intent of the codes or the rules legally adopted have been incorrectly interpreted, the provisions of those codes do not fully apply or the requirements of those codes are adequately satisfied by other means. Any person requesting an appeal shall file the following information to the Secretary of the Board of Adjustment and meet the following requirements:
1. 
All appeals shall be taken within twenty (20) days of the date of the action which is appealed.
2. 
Appeals shall be signed by the applicant, addressed to the Board of Adjustment and presented to the City Administrator. A fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be paid to the City for each appeal. The appeals shall contain or be accompanied by such legal descriptions, maps, plans and other information so as to completely describe the decisions or interpretations being appealed and the reason for such appeal.
3. 
The City Administrator shall transmit to the Board of Adjustment the appeal and all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.
4. 
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the administrative officer certifies to the Board of Adjustment that by reason of facts in the record, a stay shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment or by a court of record on application or notice to the officer, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property.
5. 
In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment or by a court of record on application or notice to the administrative officer.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006; Ord. No. 2010.07 §5, 4-12-2010]
A. 
A variance may authorize a deviation from the specific terms of these regulations which is determined not to be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of these regulations will, in an individual case, result in unnecessary hardship, provided the spirit of these regulations shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done. Such variance shall not permit any use not permitted by the zoning regulations in such district.
1. 
The applicant must show that his property was acquired in good faith and where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of this specific piece of property at the time of the effective date of the City's zoning regulations or where by reasons of exceptional topographical conditions or other extraordinary or exceptional circumstances that the strict application of the terms of the zoning regulations actually prohibit the use of this property in the manner similar to that of other property in the zoning district where it is located.
2. 
Variances from these regulations may be granted only in the following instances:
a. 
To vary the applicable lot area and width, height and yard regulations.
b. 
To vary the applicable off-street parking and off-street loading requirements.
3. 
A request for a variance may be granted upon a finding of the Board of Adjustment that all of the following conditions have been met. The Board of Adjustment shall make a determination on each condition and the finding shall be entered in the record.
a. 
The variance requested arises from such condition which is unique to the property in question and which is not ordinarily found in the same zone or district and is not created by an action or actions of the property owner or applicant.
b. 
The granting of the permit for the variance will not adversely affect the rights of adjacent property owners represented in the application.
c. 
The strict application of the provisions of the zoning regulations of which the variance is requested will constitute unnecessary hardship upon the property owner represented in the application.
d. 
The variance desired will not adversely affect the public health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity or general welfare.
e. 
The granting of the variance desired will not be opposed to the general spirit and intent of the zoning regulations.
4. 
In granting a variance, the Board of Adjustment may impose such conditions, safeguards and restrictions upon the premises benefited by the variance as may be necessary to reduce or minimize any potentially injurious effect of such variance upon other property in the neighborhood and to carry out the general purpose and intent of these regulations.
5. 
In exercising the foregoing powers, the Board of Adjustment, in conformity with the provisions herein, 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 of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
6. 
The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such administrative official or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under any such regulation or to affect any variation in such regulation.
[Ord. No. 2006.19 §1, 6-12-2006]
In making any decision varying or modifying any provision of the zoning regulations or in granting a variance from the district regulations, the Board of Adjustment shall impose such restrictions, terms, time limitations, landscaping, screening and other appropriate safeguards as needed to protect adjoining property. The Board of Adjustment may require a performance bond to guarantee the installation of improvements, such as parking lot surfacing, landscaping, etc. The amount of the bond shall be based on a general estimate of cost for the improvements as determined by the Board of Adjustment and shall be enforceable by or payable to the Board of Aldermen in the sum equal to the cost of constructing the required improvements. In lieu of the performance bond requirement, the Board of Adjustment may specify a time limit for the completion of such required improvements and, in the event the improvements are not completed within the specified time, the Board of Adjustment may declare the granting of the application null and void after reconsideration.