The City Council may from time to time, on its own motion, on
petition or on recommendation of the Planning Board, and after public
notice and hearing as required by law, act to amend, supplement, repeal
or change the regulations and districts established under this chapter.
A. Contents. Any petition for amendment of this chapter shall be made
to the City Clerk and shall describe the proposed changes. For proposed
amendments to the Zoning Map, a copy of the applicable portion of
the official copy of the Zoning Map, as kept by the City Clerk, shall
be included, showing existing and proposed zoning. Also included for
proposed map amendments shall be a map drawn to an appropriate scale
showing all properties and the names of the owners of such properties
located within 200 feet of any land which would be affected by such
change, as shown on the tax assessment rolls.
B. Notice. The applicant shall be responsible for complying with the requirements as to notice in Chapter
267, Article
XI below.
Where petition is made by the owners of 50% or more of the frontage in any district or of the frontage of the several properties constituting a part thereof, as provided by §
83 of the General City Law, the City Council shall hear and vote upon said petition within 90 days of the filing of such petition, in proper form, with the City Clerk. In the case of all other applications and petitions submitted to the City requesting an amendment of this chapter, the City Council may, on its own motion, decide not to formally consider such amendment.
If any amendment is to be considered by the City Council, it shall be referred for review and report to the Planning Board, the Corporation Counsel and any other board, agency or official of the City which the City Council deems appropriate. The Planning Board may confer with the petitioner and assist such petitioner, where appropriate, to place the amendment in its most suitable form. Such conference and assistance shall not be deemed to constitute any commitment by the Planning Board as to its position on the advisability of the proposed amendment nor to require the petitioner to make any modification to his application. After said conference, however, the petitioner shall be allowed to revise his petition and to provide copies of such revised petition to the City Council and to any board, agency or official to which the original proposed amendment was referred. The Corporation Counsel shall report to the City Council regarding the form of the proposed amendment. The Planning Board shall report to the City Council regarding the form and the advisability of the proposed amendment. Its report shall analyze the proposed amendment and shall state the Board's reasons for its recommendation, describing any conditions it believes make the amendment advisable or not, and specifically stating whether the amendment would be in accordance with the purposes of this chapter as set forth in Chapter
267, Article
I. All boards, agencies and officials to which such proposed amendments are referred shall have not less than 30 days from the date of forwarding, or from the date of revision by the petitioner, whichever is later, to submit their reports. In no case shall this section restrict the right of an applicant come before the Planning Board for an informal discussion and review prior to formal submission or a petition for amendment of this chapter.
On receipt of the requested reports and any revised proposed
amendment from an applicant or notification by the applicant that
no revision will be made, the City Council may schedule and hold a
public hearing on the proposed amendment.
Notice of the public hearing shall be published on at least
three different dates in the City's official newspaper, the first
insertion to be not less than 10 nor more than 30 days prior to the
date of the hearing. For proposed amendments to the Zoning Map, at
least one week prior to the public hearing a notice of such hearing
and a brief description of the proposed change shall be mailed to
all owners of property, as shown by the tax assessment roll, within
200 feet of any land which would be affected by such change. A copy
of such notice, with proof of such mailing, together with proof of
notice in the official newspaper, shall be filed in the City Clerk's
office on or before the date of the public hearing.
Not less than 10 days prior to the public hearing, the City
Clerk shall forward copies of the proposed amendment with the notice
of public hearing to the Westchester County Planning Board and to
the clerks of any abutting municipalities when required by law.
The action of the City Council to approve any proposed amendment
to this chapter shall be by majority vote, except, however, if a protest
is presented against such amendment, duly signed and acknowledged
by the owners of 20% or more of the area of any land included in such
proposed change, or by the owners of 20% or more of the area of the
land immediately adjacent and extending 100 feet therefrom, or by
the owners of 20% or more of the area of land directly opposite thereto
extending 100 feet from the street frontage of such opposite land,
such amendment shall not be passed except by a 3/4 vote of the City
Council.
The City Clerk shall keep the official record copy of the Zoning
Map and text sections, and shall be responsible for the posting of
all changes thereto. Said Clerk shall also maintain a file of all
such Zoning Maps and text sections which have been superseded by amendment
of this chapter.