Section 13Amendment

13-1. General Conditions. These regulations, including the zoning map, may be amended by the mayor and council on their own motion, on petition by the property owner or his duly authorized agent, or on recommendation of the planning commission, but no amendment shall become effective unless it shall have been proposed by or shall first have been submitted to the planning commission for review and recommendation. Before enacting an amendment to these regulations, the governing authority shall give public notice and hold a public hearing thereon as set forth in this section.

13-2. Application for Amendment.

13-2.1. General. Applications for amendment of these regulations may be in the form of proposals for amendment of the text of these regulations or proposals for amendment of the zoning map. Applications for amendment shall be submitted to the zoning administrator and shall include a fee of $150.00, payable to the City of Ashburn, to defray expenses. No application for a zoning change affecting the same parcel of property or part thereof shall be accepted by the zoning administrator until the expiration of at least six months immediately following the defeat of the rezoning request by the Ashburn City Council.

13-2.2. Signature of applicant required. All applications shall be signed by the applicant, and shall state his name and address.

13-2.3. Application for text amendment. In the case of a text amendment, the application shall set forth the new text to be added and the existing text to be deleted.

13-2.4. Application for map amendment. An application for a map amendment shall include the following information:

a. The community or area in which is located the land proposed to be reclassified and the street number, if any, or if none, the location with respect to the nearby public roads in common use;

b. A plat prepared by a registered land surveyor of the land in question, and a description by metes and bounds, bearings and distances of the land, or if the boundaries conform to the lot boundaries within a subdivision for which a plat is recorded in the land records of the county, then the lot, block and subdivision designations with appropriate plat reference;

c. The present zoning classification and the classification proposed for such land;

d. The name and address of the owners of the land;

e. The area of the land proposed to be reclassified stated in square feet if less than one acre, and in acres if one or more;

f. The application number, date of application and action taken on all prior applications filed for the reclassification of the whole or part of the land proposed to be reclassified;

g. If applicant has made, within two years immediately preceding the filing of the applicant's application for a map amendment, campaign contributions aggregating $250.00 or more to any member of the Ashburn City Council or any member of the Ashburn Planning Commission, it shall be the duty of the applicant and the attorney representing the applicant to disclose the following in the application:

1. The name of the local government official to whom the campaign contribution or gift was made;

2. The dollar amount of each campaign contribution made by the applicant to the local government official during the two years immediately preceding the filing of the application for the map amendment and the date of each contribution;

3. An enumeration and description of each gift having a value of $250.00 or more made by the applicant to the local government official during the two years immediately preceding the filing of the application for the map amendment; and

4. In the event that no such gift or contributions were made, the application shall affirmatively so state.

13-2.5. Referral to planning commission. Within five days after the routine monthly application acceptance deadline, the zoning administrator shall transmit two copies of the rezoning application to the planning commission for its review and recommendation. The planning commission shall have 30 days within which to submit its report to the mayor and council. If the planning commission fails to submit a report within 30 days, it shall be deemed to have recommended approval of the requested amendment.

13-2.6. a. Posting of property. Not less than 15 days prior to the date set for the public hearing on any application for a map amendment (other than a map amendment initiated by the planning commission or the city council), the zoning administrator shall erect a sign on the land proposed to be reclassified. Such sign shall be erected by the zoning administrator within ten feet of whatever boundary line of such land abuts the most traveled public road; and, if no public road abuts thereon, then such sign shall be erected to face in such a manner as may be most readily seen by the public. The sign shall show the application number, the present zoning classification, the proposed zoning classification, the scheduled date, time, and place of public hearing, and the telephone number to call for further information. If the land sought to be reclassified lies within more than one block as shown on a plat recorded in the land records of the county, then a sign shall be erected on the land in each such block.

b. Removal of sign. Any such sign shall be maintained at all times by the zoning administrator until a decision on the application has been made by the mayor and council.

13-2.7. Policies and procedures governing the calling and conducting of public hearings on zoning decisions.

a. Hearing called. Before taking action on a proposed amendment, the city council shall hold a public hearing thereon. At least 15 but not more than 45 days notice of the time, place, and purpose of said hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the City of Ashburn, Georgia. Such notice shall also state the application number, and shall contain a summary of the proposed amendment, if a text amendment, and in the case of a map amendment, the location of the property, its area, the name of the owner or their authorized agent, and the present and proposed zoning classification for the property affected.

Further, such advertisement shall advise the public pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 36-67A-3 that any opponent of a proposed rezoning action who has made campaign contributions aggregating $250.00 or more to a local government official of the local government which will consider the application within two years of the date of the application shall be required to file a disclosure with the governing authority of the respective local government showing (1) the name and official position of the local government official to whom campaign contributions were made; and (2) the dollar amount and description of each campaign contribution made by the opponent to the local government official during the five years immediately preceding the filing of the application for the proposed rezoning action and the date of each contribution. Such disclosure shall be required to be filed at least five calendar days prior to the scheduled hearing.

b. Notice to interested parties. A notice shall be given to the applicant of the date, time, and place of the public hearing. All application files shall be placed in the custody of the zoning administrator and be open to public inspection during regular office hours.

c. Public hearing procedure. All public hearings on zoning matters shall be placed on the city council agenda under a section entitled "Public Hearings." The mayor, or his designee, shall officially declare the public hearing open and shall note that the City of Ashburn's written Public Hearing Procedures, City of Ashburn's Standards for Exercise of Zoning Powers, and a copy of Georgia's Conflict of Interest Law are available to the attending public as a handout and are posted for public review.

The zoning administrator and/or designee shall then announce the matter for consideration. The mayor shall then call for acknowledgement of a potential conflict of interest by members of the council. The zoning administrator will then report the staff recommendation and the recommendation of the Ashburn Planning Commission. The mayor shall then allow public input. General procedures to be followed will require citizen comments to be heard in an orderly fashion. Citizens speaking in favor of the request shall be heard first, followed by those opposed to the issue. All speakers will be asked to provide his or her name and address for the public record. Citizens are requested to keep their comments as brief as possible so that all who wish to be heard will have adequate time. Where there is a large number of citizens wishing to testify at a given hearing, the presiding officer may invoke reasonable time limitations on both the proponents and opponents of a request. In such cases, these time limits shall apply to both sides of an issue equally. Citizens shall address their comments to the city council as a whole. Individual attacks or cross examination of council members, city employees or other citizens will be ruled out of order. The city council retains the privilege to ask any questions of staff or any citizen present for clarification.

After all citizen comments have been received, all further discussion of the specific application is reserved for the city council. The mayor shall then declare the public hearing closed and no further public comment will be entertained. The city council will then render a decision on the application. Decisions may include approval, denial or tabling of the decision to a time, place and date specific. IN THE CASE OF TABLING OF A MATTER, NO FURTHER PUBLIC COMMENT WILL BE ENTERTAINED UPON FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF THE MATTER.

When, in the opinion of the city council, the official public hearing has brought forth substantial new evidence or testimony not available to the Ashburn Planning Commission at the time of their review of a zoning matter, or should the city council desire to request further study by the planning commission of a particular aspect of an application, it shall be the policy of the council to table the issue and request that the planning commission restudy the issue and affirm or amend its recommendation, which action shall be reported to the city council prior to making a final decision.

d. Standards for exercise of zoning powers. In order to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of the City of Ashburn and the residents thereof against the unrestricted use of property, the following standards, and any other factors relevant to balancing the above stated public interest shall be considered by the city council in making any zoning decision:

1. The existing land use pattern;

2. The possible creation of an isolated district unrelated to adjacent and nearby districts;

3. The existing population density pattern and the possible increase or overtaxing of the load on public facilities;

4. Whether changed or changing conditions make the passage of the proposed amendment reasonable;

5. Whether the proposed change will adversely influence existing conditions in the neighborhood or the community at large;

6. Potential impact on the environment, including but not limited to drainage, soil erosion, and sedimentation, flooding, air quality, and water quality and quantity;

7. The reasonableness of the costs required of the public in providing, improving, increasing or maintaining public utilities, schools, streets and public safety necessities when considering the proposed change;

8. Whether the proposed change will be detrimental to the value, improvement, or development of adjacent or nearby property in accordance with existing regulations;

9. Whether the proposed change is out of scale with the needs of the neighborhood or the City of Ashburn;

10. Whether the proposed change will constitute a grant of special privilege to the individual owner as contrasted with the adjacent or nearby neighborhood or with the general public; and

11. The extent to which the zoning decision is consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan, as amended.

e. Public hearings records standards. The city clerk shall mechanically record the proceedings of all zoning public hearings. If requested by any party, verbatim transcripts of the public hearing can be prepared, but only if requested and purchased in advance by the requesting party, who must arrange at his expense for a certified court reporter to record and transcribe the hearing and furnish the original of the transcript to the city council for its records. The record of the public hearing and all evidence (e.g., maps, drawings, traffic studies, etc.) submitted at the public hearing shall be noted as such and shall become a permanent part of the particular zoning amendment's file.