As provided in K.S.A. 12-756, in order to adopt any zoning district or regulation, the City must establish a Planning Commission to review and recommend to the Governing Body the nature and number of zoning districts, the boundaries of the districts and appropriate regulations deemed necessary to be enforced therein. The City of Linn Valley, Kansas has created a Planning Commission pursuant to the provisions and requirements set forth in K.S.A. 12-744.

The City Council may, from time to time, amend, supplement or change, by Ordinance, the boundaries of the districts or the regulations herein established. The Ordinance shall become effective upon publication thereof in the official City newspaper.

A.    A proposal for an amendment or change in zoning may be initiated by the City Council, the Planning Commission and, if the proposed amendment is not a general revision of the existing Ordinance and affects specific property, upon application of the owner of the property affected or the owner’s duly authorized agent.

B.    An application for an amendment or change in zoning initiated by a property owner, shall be made to the Planning Commission upon appropriate forms available from the City Clerk. Such application shall be made at least thirty (30) days prior to a regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting.

C.    All proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance or zoning changes shall first be submitted to the Planning Commission for recommendation and report, and no amendment or change shall be made without a public hearing before the Planning Commission.

D.    A fee, in the amount adopted by Ordinance of the City Council, shall accompany an application for rezoning, and in addition thereto, the applicant shall pay the cost of publication notice. No fee shall be required if the zoning change is requested by the Planning Commission or the City Council.

E.    When the owner of the property affected initiates an amendment to the Ordinance or the district boundaries, an application for such amendment shall be obtained from the City Clerk. Said application shall be completed in its entirety and filed with the City Clerk so that a public hearing date can be established.  All such applications shall first be submitted to the Planning Commission for recommendation and report.

F.    If a proposed amendment is not a general revision of existing Ordinances and will affect specific property, the application shall be accompanied by an ownership list with the names and addresses of owners of all property located within two hundred (200) feet of the boundaries of the property for which the zoning amendment is requested or one thousand (1,000) feet if the affected property is adjacent to the unincorporated boundary.

All proposed amendment or change shall first be submitted to the Planning Commission for recommendation and report, and no amendment or change shall be made without a hearing before the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall cause an accurate written summary to be made of the proceedings.

A.    Public Notice of such hearing shall be published by the City Clerk not less than twenty (20) days prior to the date of said hearing in the official City newspaper. Said notice shall notify the public that such a hearing will take place; fix the time and place of the hearing; describe the nature of the application which will be presented; and state that the public may attend and be heard. When the proposed change is not a general revision of an existing zoning regulation and will affect specific property, such property shall also be designated by legal description. Proof of publication of such notice shall be filed with the Planning Commission in advance of said hearing.

B.    If the proposed amendment is not a general revision to the Zoning Ordinance and would affect surrounding properties, a separate written notice shall be sent by mail, at least twenty (20) days prior to the scheduled Planning Commission meeting. Property owners notified of the public hearing shall have the opportunity to be heard or to submit a protest petition as provided in K.S.A. 12-757(f) to be filed in the office of the City Clerk, and to be considered by the City Council in considering the proposed rezoning.

C.    All such rezoning applications shall be set for hearing no later than sixty (60) days from the date of filing the same. Any such hearing may, for good cause, with the consent of the applicant, be continued. At such hearing, the Planning Commission shall make findings of fact to determine whether the application is found to be compatible with the following:

1.    Character of the neighborhood.

2.    Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Linn Valley.

3.    Adequacy of public utilities and other needed public services.

4.    Suitability of the uses to which the property has been restricted under its existing zoning.

5.    Length of time property has remained vacant as zoned.

6.    Compatibility of the proposed district classification with nearby properties.

7.    The extent to which the zoning amendment may detrimentally affect nearby property.

8.    Whether the proposed amendment provides a disproportionately great loss to the individual land owners nearby relative to the public gain.

9.    Recommendation of professional staff.

The following Table of Lesser Change is for the use of the Planning Commission in determining when republication of an application for rezoning is required. This Table of Lesser Change designates what zoning classifications are lesser changes authorized within the published zoning classifications. The Table of Lesser Change lists zoning classifications in descending order from the least intense zoning district to the most intense zoning district. The Planning Commission may modify, at its discretion, an application for rezoning to a particular district by recommending a rezoning to a district of lesser intensity, as determined by the Table of Lesser Change. Where a Planned Unit Development Overlay District has been combined with any basic zoning district, such combination shall be deemed to be a lesser zoning district for purposes of this table.

A-1: Agricultural District

R-1: Single Family Residential

R-2: Single Family Residential – Multi Purpose/Camping Lots

P-1: Park and Open Space

C-1: Restricted Commercial

I-1: Light Industrial

PUD: Planned Unit Development

A.    Planning Commission Actions: For action on zoning amendments, a quorum of the Planning Commission shall be more than one half (1/2) of all voting members. A vote for an amendment by a majority of the Planning Commission members present and voting at the hearing shall constitute a “recommendation for approval”, and a vote against an amendment by a majority of the Planning Commission present and voting shall constitute a “recommendation of disapproval”. If the Planning Commission fails to make recommendation on a rezoning request, the Planning Commission shall be deemed to have made a “recommendation for disapproval”.

B.    City Council Actions: After receiving the recommendation of the Planning Commission, such amendment, together with the reasons therefore, the City Council may adopt such recommendation by Ordinance, override the Planning Commission’s recommendation by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the membership of the City Council, or return such recommendation to the Planning Commission with a statement specifying the basis for the City Council’s failure to approve or disapprove.

C.    If the City Council returns the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the Planning Commission, after considering the same, may resubmit its original recommendation giving the reasons therefore or submit a new or amended recommendation. Upon receipt of such recommendation, the City Council, by a simple majority, may adopt, may revise or amend and adopt such recommendation by Ordinance, or it may deny the zoning amendment.

D.    If the Planning Commission fails to deliver a recommendation to the City Council following the Planning Commission’s next regular meeting after receipt of the City Council’s report, the City Council shall consider such course of inaction on the part of the Planning Commission as a resubmission of the original recommendation and proceed accordingly.

If the zoning amendment shall affect the boundaries of any zoning district, the amending Ordinance of the City Council shall define the change of boundary as amended, shall order the zoning district to be changed to reflect the amendment and shall amend the Official City Zoning Map accordingly.

Regardless of whether the Planning Commission approves or disapproves a proposed zoning amendment, if within fourteen (14) days after the date of the conclusion of the Planning Commission’s hearing, a petition signed by the owners of twenty percent (20%) or more of any property proposed to be rezoned, or by owners of twenty percent (20%) or more of the total area required to be notified by this Article of the proposed rezoning of a specific property, excluding streets and public ways, is filed in the office of the City Clerk, the amendment shall not be passed except by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of all the members of the City Council.

Whenever an application has been made under this Article and the application has been denied by the City Council, such application, or one substantially similar, shall not be considered sooner than one (1) year after the previous denial.