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Item No: 6B Meeting Date: October 7, 2009 Type of Business: Other Planning Activity City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Ken Roberts, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Review Code Amendment – Voting Requirements for Zoning Amendments Introduction: Community Development staff has a list of code amendments that the City should make. This report is about a proposed code amendment about the voting requirements for zoning amendments. Discussion: The City Attorney has advised staff that the City should amend Section 1125.01, Subd.1j of the City Code. (Please see the attached memo from 2004). This change is necessary because the current City Code language is inconsistent with State statutes. The City may not adopt code language that is more restrictive than or inconsistent with State statute. The current code language reads as follows: j. Four-Fifths Vote: Amendments of this Title, the Official Zoning map or for a conditional use permit shall require passage by four-fifths (4/5) vote of the full City Council. Simply put, this means that the City Code now requires at least four of the City Council members to vote in approval of any zoning change in the City. Unfortunately, State statutes (462.357, Subd. 2(b)) requires a simply majority vote (3/5) of the City Council to approve most zoning changes. However, the state statute does require the City Council to approve a zoning amendment that changes all or part of an existing residential zoning district to either commercial or industrial by a four-fifths (4/5) vote. Staff has prepared an amendment to the City Code to correct this conflict. Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review and discuss Resolution 911-09.