[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
It shall be the duty of the person designated by the Board of Aldermen as the Zoning Enforcement Officer to administer and enforce the regulations contained in this Chapter.
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
It shall be unlawful to commence or to proceed with the erection, construction, reconstruction, conversion, alteration, enlargement, extension, raising or moving of any building or structure, or of any portion thereof, without first having applied in writing to the Zoning Enforcement Officer for a building permit to do so and a building permit having been granted therefor.
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
Every application for a building permit shall be in writing and delivered to the Zoning Enforcement Officer and shall be accompanied by a detailed set of plans, in duplicate, showing the size of the proposed building or structure, its location on the lot, the basic materials of which it is to be constructed and the details and type of construction to be used. On the issuance of a permit, one (1) set of said plans shall be retained by the Zoning Enforcement Officer as a permanent record and one (1) set shall be returned to the applicant. In cases of any building or structure to be located outside the fire districts, the Zoning Enforcement Officer may, at his/her own discretion, permit the substitution of a written statement covering the essential information required in place of said plans.
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
A. 
Residential Structure: seventeen cents ($0.17) per square foot, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
B. 
Residential remodel: nine cents ($0.09) per square foot; minimum fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
C. 
Unattached garage: seven cents ($0.07) per square foot; minimum fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
D. 
Commercial structure: four dollars ($4.00) per one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of cost, not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00).
E. 
All others, such as fences, pools, decks, yard sheds, house moving, demolition: permit fee twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
Any building permit, under which no construction work has been commenced within six (6) months after the date of issue of said permit or under which the proposed construction has not been completed within two (2) years of the date of issue shall expire by limitation; and no work or operation shall take place under such permit after such expiration. Upon payment of ten cents ($0.10) per month for each one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of the construction cost on which the original permit was issued, but not less than one dollar ($1.00) per month in any case, a building permit may be once extended for a period not exceeding six (6) months by the Zoning Enforcement Officer.
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
Subsequent to November 16, 1992, no change in the use or occupancy of land, nor any change of use or occupancy in an existing building other than for single-family dwelling purposes, shall be made, nor shall any new building be occupied until a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the Zoning Enforcement Officer. Every certificate of occupancy shall state that the new occupancy complies with all provisions of this Chapter. No permit for excavation for or the erection or alteration of any building shall be issued before the application has been made and approved for a certificate of occupancy and compliance, and no building or premises shall be occupied until such certificate and permit are issued. A record of all certificates of occupancy shall be kept on file in the office of the Zoning Enforcement Officer, and copies shall be furnished on request to any person having a proprietary or tenancy interest in land or a building affected by such certificate of occupancy.
[Ord. No. 395, 11-6-2023]
A. 
Procedures Process Summary.
Table 400.270 below provides a summary of review and approval requirements related to the various items in this Chapter as provided for in Sections 400.275, 400.280, and 400.290 indicating the eligible applicants, application meeting requirements, notice requirements, review and approval entities, and public hearing requirements.
Required
R
Review and recommending authority
Authorized
D
Decision making authority
PC
Planning Commission
PH
Public hearing required
BOA
Board of Aldermen
A
Appeal of decision
BA
Board of Adjustment
Protest permitted
Table 400.270
Review and Approval Item
Eligible Applicants
Pre-application meeting
Notice
Review Body
Protest Permitted
Owner
Staff
PC
BOA
Post
Publish
Mail
Staff
PC
BOA
BA
Zoning Map amendment
R
R&PH
D
Conditional use permit
R
R&PH
D
Site plan
R
D
A
Variance
R
D&PH
Appeal of administrative decision
D&PH
Text amendment
R
R&PH
D
B. 
Applications And Fees.
1. 
Forms. Applications required under this Code shall be submitted to the Zoning Enforcement Officer. The Zoning Enforcement Officer is authorized to modify the application forms and submittal requirements as deemed necessary in the Zoning Enforcement Officer's discretion.
2. 
Fees. Applications shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee established by the Board of Aldermen. Any application that does not include the required fee shall be returned to the applicant as incomplete. Fees shall not be required with applications initiated by the staff, Planning and Zoning Commission, or Board of Aldermen.
3. 
Eligible Applicants. Table 400.270 indicates applicants eligible for each application under this code, which include the following:
a. 
Owner. The record owner of property impacted by the application, or that owner's authorized agent. In the case of an application requiring a public hearing, and for the purposes of the right to appeal or protest, all those receiving mailed notice shall be considered owners impacted by the application.
b. 
Planning And Zoning Commission. The Planning and Zoning Commission, acting on its own initiative according to its bylaws and rules of procedure.
c. 
Board Of Aldermen. The Board of Aldermen, acting on its own initiative according to its bylaws and rules of procedure.
C. 
Application Processing Cycles. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall establish a more specific processing cycle for each type of application, which includes:
1. 
Dates of regular meetings of review bodies and decision makers that comply with all legal requirements for notice and public meeting deadlines;
2. 
Deadlines for receipt of a complete application for consideration at a particular meeting;
3. 
The scheduling of staff reviews, agency reviews, and staff reports on complete applications; and
4. 
The steps and benchmarks in the application process (including required notice requirements, public meetings, public hearings, decision meetings and review by other bodies).
D. 
Pre-Application Meeting. Pre-application meetings may be requested for any application and shall be required as indicated in Table 400.270. Where required, the applicant shall confer with the Zoning Enforcement Officer, and other City officials designated by the Zoning Enforcement Officer. The purpose of the pre-application meeting is to discuss the general nature of the proposal, including:
1. 
Classification of the application.
2. 
Procedure and submittal requirements for the application.
3. 
Criteria for processing and decisions on the application.
4. 
Notification requirements, timing, and other procedural pre-requisites, or whether any special community outreach may be important.
5. 
Planning and infrastructure impacts, including the need for any additional technical studies or outside agency coordination and review.
6. 
The relationship to the Master Plan, and whether any specific plans, policies or other design, development or economic development initiatives impact the application.
7. 
Zoning requirements for the property in question and adjacent property.
8. 
Opportunities to improve any preliminary design concepts and better relate project benefits or mitigate impacts to other public or private investments in the area.
A required pre-application meeting may be waived at the Zoning Enforcement Officer' discretion and upon the applicant's request for any application that is routine in nature and where the above topics can be addressed by general correspondence.
E. 
Staff Review. Upon receipt of an application, the Zoning Enforcement Officer shall take the following steps:
1. 
Notification Of Incomplete Application. If the Zoning Enforcement Officer determines that an application is incomplete within, the Zoning Enforcement Officer shall notify the applicant of the specific ways in which the application is deficient within fifteen (15) days of submittal, and no further processing of the application shall occur until the deficiencies are corrected. If the application is not completed within thirty (30) days of the notice, the incomplete application is deemed rejected.
2. 
Scheduling. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall schedule complete applications for further review according to these regulations.
a. 
Applications that require a public hearing shall be scheduled for initial review within sixty (60) days of a determination of a complete application.
b. 
Applications that do not require a hearing, but an official public meeting, shall be scheduled for review within thirty (30) days of a determination of a complete application or the recommendation from another required review body.
In the event that the next regular meeting of the review body is beyond these time periods, or the required notice cannot be given within these time periods, the application shall be scheduled for the closest available meeting.
3. 
Staff Report. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall prepare a staff report in light of the appropriate policies, plans and regulations. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall provide a copy of the report to the review body and to the applicant before the scheduled meeting.
F. 
Notice. Notice shall be provided for each application as indicated in Table 400.270, which shall provide the time, place and general nature and location of the application. Required notice shall be based on the following requirements:
1. 
Published. Where published notice is required, at least fifteen (15) days, but not more than thirty (30) days prior to the public review notice shall be published in a newspaper in general circulation in the City.
2. 
Posted. Where posted notice is required, the applicant shall post notice on property that is the subject of the application within public view at least fifteen (15) days before the scheduled review. The City will furnish the sign(s) for posting.
3. 
Mailed. Where mailed notice is required, the applicant shall provide names and addresses of all owners of record within one hundred eighty-five (185) feet, excluding existing rights-of-way, of the boundaries of the property. At the expense of the applicant, the Zoning Enforcement Officer shall mail notice of the time, place and nature of the hearing by certified mail at least fifteen (15) days prior to the public review. When mailed notices have been properly addressed and deposited in the mail, failure of a party to receive such notice shall not invalidate any subsequent action.
G. 
Public Hearings. Where a public hearing is required by Table 400.270, the following procedures apply:
1. 
The hearing shall be conducted, and a record of the proceedings shall be preserved, as the specific review body may prescribe by rule.
2. 
Any interested person or party may appear and be heard in person, by agent, or by attorney.
3. 
The review body may request a report on the application from any government official or agency, or any other person, firm or corporation with information pertinent to the application. A copy of any requested report shall be made available to the applicant and interested parties and shall be available for review in the office of the City Planner.
4. 
A public hearing for which proper notice was given may be continued to a later date without again complying with the notice requirements of this Chapter, provided that the continuance is set for a specific date, time and location announced at the original public hearing.
H. 
Action By Review Bodies. Review bodies shall take the actions indicated in Table 400.270. A review body may take any action on the application consistent with notice given or criteria in this Chapter, regardless of the presence of the applicant, including the following (or recommend the following when the review body is a recommending body):
1. 
Approve the application.
2. 
Approve the application with conditions or modifications.
3. 
Deny the application.
4. 
Continue the application to allow further analysis. The continued application shall not be more than sixty (60) days from the original review without consent of the applicant. No application shall be continued more than once by each review body without consent of the applicant.
I. 
Appeals. Where a review body is designated as the appellate body in Table 400.270, the following appeal procedures apply:
1. 
Appeals shall be filed with the Zoning Enforcement Officer within fifteen (15) days of the decision by the decision-making review body.
2. 
The following persons and entities shall have standing to appeal the action of the review body:
a. 
The applicant.
b. 
The Zoning Enforcement Officer, on behalf of any public official, department, or agency.
c. 
Any owner of land that is the subject of the action or proposed action:
d. 
Any person given the right of appeal by law.
3. 
The review body designated as the appellate body shall consider the application as a new matter, and within sixty (60) days of the date that the appeal was filed may take any action authorized by the decision-making review body. The procedure and required notice shall be the same as required of the original application.
J. 
Technical Studies. The Zoning Enforcement Officer, on behalf of any public official, department, or agency, the City Planner, the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Board of Aldermen may require applicants for development or permit approval to submit technical studies as may be necessary to evaluate the application. Technical review by outside entities with expertise or jurisdiction over some aspects of the application may be required in place of, in addition to, or in association with any studies. Examples of technical studies that may be required include traffic studies, engineering studies, geologic or hydrologic studies, environmental impact assessments, noise studies, market studies or economic impacts. The persons or firms preparing the studies shall be subject to the approval of the Zoning Enforcement Officer. The costs of all studies shall be borne by the applicant. Any application that is determined to require technical studies or review from entities outside of the City may require special schedules based on the reasonable time frames to conduct those studies or additional reviews.
K. 
Successive Applications. In the event that the review body takes final action to deny an application, the same or a similar application shall not be refiled for one (1) year from the advertised review date. The Zoning Enforcement Officer, upon petition by the applicant, may permit a refiling of the application no sooner than one hundred eighty (180) days after the scheduled review date when it is determined that significant physical, economic or land use changes have taken place within the immediate vicinity, or a significant Development Code text amendment has been adopted. There shall be no time limitation on a substantially different application.