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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2206BREMERTON CITY COUNCIl. Resolution No. 2206 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF BREMERTON: ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES RELATED TO PUBLIC NOTICE AND ADOPTION OF THE NEW ZONING ORDINANCE, AND INCLUDING A PROCESS FOR THE CORRECTION OF ERRORS. WHEREAS, the Bremerton Zoning Ordinance was originally adopted in 1942, has been amended repeatedly over the years, and has become outdated and seriously ineffective in dealing with modern growth issues and problems of today; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission and Planning Department staff have developed a new Zoning Ordinance which has undergone close scrutiny by a subcommittee of the Planning Commission, the Commission itself, City staff and the general public, resulting in numerous revisions and improvements; and WHEREAS, the Bremerton Planning Commission has conducted open houses, public study sessions and public hearings during the summer and fall of 1987 for the purpose of finalizing the Zoning Ordinance draft; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission, on October 20, 1987, passed Resolution No. 87-1 recommending the City Council's adoption of the new Zoning Ordinance and Map; and WHEREAS, prior to taking formal action on the new Ordinance and Map, the City Council desires to formalize the procedures leading to and following adoption to ensure the maximum reasonable level of public notification, adequate opportunity to participate in the adoption process, and an appropriate process and time period following adoption in which to correct errors. NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the City Council of Bremerton intends to proceed with the adoption process of the new Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Map in the following manner. Section 1: Notification Process The City Council hereby directs Planning Department staff to proceed with a city-wide public notification process comprised of the following components: A. Utility bills: Information insert to be included With City utility bills. B. Taxpayer Mail-out: Information mail-out with "generalized" Zoning Map to "taxpayer" list provided by County Assessor. C. Bremerton Sun: Full-page ad, including "generalized" Zoning Map, hearings dates and information contacts. D- Hearings Notices: Notices of public hearings will be published in the Bremerton Sun at least ten days prior to each hearing. E. Posting: Public notices will be posted in City Hall, public libraries, Post Offices, and other public places throughout the City. F. Public Access Television: Advertising will be placed on the Channel 29 character generator and a video presentation will be created. G. Groups/Organizations: Staff will offer additional information and personal visits/presentations to community, professional, and special interest groups and organizations. H. Neighborhoods: Meetings will be scheduled with BACON and with neighborhood groups, as available. Section 2: Study Sessions The City Council will schedule and conduct as many study sessions as it deems necessary. Such study sessions may be prior to or following the Zoning Ordinance public hearings. Section 3: Public Hearings The City Council will conduct a minimum of one public hearing for the purpose of accepting public comments pertaining to the proposed Zoning Ordinance. Such hearing(s) will be advertised in accordance with Section l-D, 1-E and 1-F. Section 4: Correction of Errors A committee will be established to hear requests by property owners for Zoning Reviews to determine whether or not an error was made in either the Zoning Ordinance or Zoning Map. An application fee will be established, but will be refunded if it is determined that an error had been made. The grace period for Zoning Review applications will extend for a period of six months immediately following adoption of the new Zoning Ordinance and Map. Errors or suspected errors discovered beyond that period will be processed as normal fezone actions. An attachment to this Resolution further explains the details of this process. The process itself will be established by ordinance. APPROVED by the City Council this 9th day of March, 1988. HANK WAIBEL, President APPROVED this 10 day of March, 1988. GENE LOBE, Mayor ATTEST: KATHLEEN L.McCLUSKEY, Clerk ATTACHMENT ..... ATTACHMENT ..... A Process for the CORRECTION OF ERRORS Adoption of the BREMERTON ZONING ORDINANCE eee INTRODUCTION The Bremerton Planning Commission has completed its work on the new Zoning Ordinance and Map for the City of Bremerton and has passed Resolution 87-1 recommending Council adoption. The zoning package will soon be coming to the City Council for its consideration. The new Zoning Ordinance will completely revise the structure of zoning with a completely new set of zoning districts. Although most properties in Bremerton will not be greatly affected by the new zoning, the actual designations of all properties will change. There are roughly 16,500 lots in the city and it is possible that some mapping errors will occur, although staff feels that most have already been found and corrected by the Planning Commission. In order to provide the general public with an ample opportunity to review the new zoning and correct any errors, an "error correction" process is being proposed. This process, if approved, will provide a six-month period following adoption of the Zoning Ordinance and Map, during which applications for zoning reviews could be made and corrections made at no charge to the public. The following is an outline of this process. APPLICATION & TIME PERIOD · The error correction period will extend for six months from the date of adoption of the Zoning Ordinance. · Application forms for "zoning review" will be available at the Planning Department. · An application fee of $50 (suggested) will be paid at the time of application, but will be refunded if it is determined that an error was made. That refund would occur following the City Council's final approval of the correction. · No requests for zoning review will be accepted after the six month period. Any suspected errors after that time will be considered as a normal fezone application. However, correction of errors after the six-month period may still be initiated by the City as a fezone (in obvious cases) at no expense to the owner. REVIEW COMMITTEE · A Zoning Review Committee will be established to assist in the processing of review requests. This is proposed to be a three- member committee consisting of: -- One City Council member -- One Planning Commissioner -- The President of BACON (or appointed representative) · The Zoning Review Committee will meet a minimum of once per month, depending on the workload. · Planning Department staff will provide staff reports, maps, and other information needed for each review, will be responsible for the scheduling of meetings and will handle notification needs. CORRECTION OF ERRORS P. 2of2 · The review committee's work may extend beyond the six-month period if additional time is needed. · The following criteria will be used to review the zoning of properties for possible errors, and to assign the proper zoning: The new zoninq should be consistent with the present land use of the property to minimize nonconformities, unless (a) the present use was already a nonconformity under the old zoning; or (b) the present use conflicts with and/or has an adverse influence or impact on the neighborhood or surrounding properties; or (c) the property is vacant or includes an abandoned structure; or (d) the property's previous zoning was not consistent with its actual use, but was consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan for the area. The new zoning will be consistent with and will implement the Bremerton Comprehensive Plan. (It is understood that there will be some "up-zoning" and "down-zoning" to achieve this consistency. It is also understood that the Plan's land use designations are intended to be general and not site-specific.) The establishment of cohesive zoning "districts" is intended and checkerboard zoning patterns and spot-zoning of single properties should be avoided whenever possible. (In some cases, the inclusion of a different type of use in a zoning district may be advantageous to the district and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan even though a nonconformity is created.) To the greatest extent possible, special land use conditions required by previous land use actions should not be'carried over. (Also, new conditions should not be created through this correction process.) · The Zoning Review Committee may also review suspected errors in the text of the Zoning Ordinance. · Committee recommendations for corrections will be scheduled for City Council public hearing and action at two-month intervals. The City Council may consider the recommendations and make tentative decisions following those hearings. All approved Zoning Ordinance and Map corrections will be submitted in a single package at the conclusion of the review process for final adoption. Prepared by: Ron W. Hough Long-range Planning Manager February 11, 1988 Amended May 6, 1988