Agenda Packets - 1983/08/22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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A' •3 AIR .I Zoning Ordinance Zoning AL AZ3 v.b arvrtaav Administration I'elh,gn the aura impul. 1.1111 1),Irt of the lolling plo. cess, and the part of great• esl interest to the individual p llullog commissioner, is in the adolinistl.11ion of the inning ordimince. At tale sine time, this part tends to be the weakest link in the whole pl.lorling pro. cess, and the place where the planning process of. ten breaks down, This is because many planning commissioners and local officials tend to issue an inordinate number of variances and zoning amend- ments. fart of the reason for [his is Ibe "prt,-I;ruwlh" In "pnr•develupmcrll" allilude Oil the pan of malty local officials and planning commission members. with this type of attitude, it is easy to justify bending the rules a little and to issue vari• aulces and aunendnlents al practically every request. A second reason is the wish to remain popular with the citizens of the community. It is difficult at limes and often unpopular to stick to the rules, especially if the request for a variance comes from a local citizen. It should be remembered, however, Ihal once it request for a variance is issued h) one individual, it will set a precedent for others, includ- ing large developers if the circumstances arc the sane. A third reason is simply ,I lack of knowledge of how the different adolirlislralive devices are sup- posed to be used, As will be indicated below, from a legal and procedural point of view, [here arc sig. nificant differences between such administrative devices as variances, conditional use permits and tuning anlendnlcn[s, Thus, it is likely that many communities arc using these devices illegally which weakens the whole zoning process and leaves the C0II1IIInlllty Open IO Ieg,11 challenges by developers and land owners, A. AIIMINISTRATIVEnEYIEES I OR MAKING ZONING MORE FLEXIBLE There are three major administrative devices avail• able to a community to change the zoning ordi. nance and to make zoning more flexible - zoning mnenJNienrs, eadalrces, and special use permits. Although there are significant differences between these devices, they have often been confused by laymen and professionals alike. The unfortunate result has been that the whole planning process has suffered; and in some cases, the zoning process has Woken down entirely. It cannot be emphasized enungh that it is very important for a community to follow the correct zoning procedures. Many communities in the past have learned the hard way the results Of oat following the correct procedures and have lost important challenges in the courts to their zoning decisions, with this in mind, the fol. lowing is an explanation of these various adminis- trative devices. Zoning Amendment (Rezoning) A� The main purpose of the zoning amendment is to allow the community to change the zoning ordi. nance or map. There are two basic types of a. mendments. One is a zoning map amendment or a change in the geographical area of a zoning district which is also popularly known as rezoning. The other is a change in the zoning text, or changes in what is permitted in a particular zoning district. There are it number of reasons why a commit. 'illy may want to amend the zoning ordinance, One is to reflect a significant and unanticipated re