Sec. 650.405. - Planning Commission advisory recommendation and public hearing.

(a) Planning Commission advisory recommendation. The Commission shall be responsible for making an advisory recommendation to the Council with respect to each application to amend the comprehensive plan. The recommendation shall be made to the Council and shall become a part of the official legislative record of the application and the committee(s) of reference shall not report the application to the Council until the recommendation has been received, except as provided in this subsection. Unless a longer time is mutually agreed upon by the Council, the Commission and the Department in the particular case, or the Commission does not submit a recommendation to the appropriate committee of Council due to a delay described in (b)(6) below, the Commission and the Department shall submit their respective reports and recommendations to the Council in not more than 63 days from the date an application to amend the comprehensive plan is introduced into City Council. If the Commission or the Department fails to submit its report and recommendation to the Council within the above prescribed time, such failure shall be deemed to be a procedural recommendation for denial of the application to amend the comprehensive plan and the Council may proceed to act on the application to amend the comprehensive plan. In such case, the appropriate committee of Council shall serve as the Local Planning Agency. The reports and recommendations of the Commission and the Department shall be advisory only and shall not be construed to be binding upon the Council. (b) Planning Commission public hearing. The Planning Commission, acting as the Local Planning Agency, shall hold at least one public hearing, advertised pursuant to Section 650.407 below, on the proposed comprehensive plan amendment, pursuant to the following procedures: (1) The hearing shall be held on a weekday at a public place within the City that is large enough to hold a reasonable number of the public. (2) Proof of publication shall be obtained and made a part of the record of the hearing. Failure to obtain proof of publication shall not invalidate the hearing. (3) The Planning Commission shall prescribe the procedure by which the hearing is to be held, which procedure shall allow the members of the public present who wish to speak to do so. Staff will be available to answer questions from the public. The provisions herein are the minimum requirements for the conduct of the public hearing and the Planning Commission is authorized to prescribe additional procedures. (4) At the conclusion of the hearing, the Department shall prepare a written summary of the proceedings as part of the record of the hearing, which summary shall be available for public inspection in the offices of the Department. (5) Upon completion of the hearing, the Planning Commission shall consider the written report and advisory recommendation of the Department, written comments, evidence and testimony submitted or presented by members of the public at or in connection with the public hearing; the Planning Commission acting as the Local Planning Agency, shall then transmit the application(s) for comprehensive plan amendment(s) to the Council with its final recommendations. (6) If the applicant has not submitted the pictures of the posted or reposted signs, if necessary, and the accompanying notarized affidavit required per Section 650.407 (c)(3), the Department shall notify the Planning Commission, which shall delay the hearing. The Planning Commission shall not approve or deny any comprehensive plan amendment unless the applicant has submitted the pictures of the posted or reposted signs, if necessary, and the accompanying notarized affidavit in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 650.407 (c)(3). If the Commission does not submit a recommendation to the appropriate committee of Council due to a delay caused by the applicant's failure to post and document the posting of signs, the appropriate committee of Council shall delay the hearing on the application to amend the comprehensive plan until the applicant has submitted the pictures of the posted or reposted signs, if necessary, and the accompanying notarized affidavit and the Planning Commission has submitted a recommendation. (Ord. 91-1016-425, § 8; Ord. 2002-714-E, § 2; Ord. 2009-548-E, § 1; Ord. 2014-108-E , § 1; Ord. 2020-729-E , § 2)