Sec. 656.124. - Notice of public hearing by council committee and public meeting of Planning Commission.
(a) Notice of a time and place of a public meeting which is required to be held by the Planning Commission and of the public hearings which are required to be held by the appropriate committee of the Council and the full Council with respect to the rezoning of land shall be prepared by the Department to include the information listed below and shall be copied and mailed by the Department at least 14 days in advance of the Planning Commission meeting at which the application for rezoning will be heard, to all owners of real property within 350 feet of the boundaries of the land upon which rezoning is requested and to all neighborhood organizations qualified to receive notice under subsection (f); provided, however, that where the applicant is the owner of land not included in the application and the unincluded land is a part of or adjoins the parcel upon which the request is made, the Zoning Administrator may, in his discretion, require that mailed notice be given to such owners as the Zoning Administrator may determine to be appropriate. For the purpose of notice requirements to adjoining owners, the names and addresses of the owners shall be deemed to be those on the current tax records in the office of the Property Appraiser; provided, however, that where such notice is determined by the Zoning Administrator to be insufficient to ensure actual notice to a majority of adjoining owners, he may require mailed notice to be given to the actual owners, as indicated by a current title search of the public records. For the purpose of notice requirements to registered neighborhood organizations, the registration list compiled by the Zoning Administrator pursuant to subsection (f) hereinbelow shall be utilized. Notice received pursuant to this subsection (a) shall confer "affected party status," as defined in Council Rule 6.302, automatically upon the receipt of such notice. Mailed notices received by adjacent owners and qualified registered neighborhood organizations as specified hereinabove should contain the following information:
(1) Application number and date of filing;
(2) Location and total area of property;
(3) Present and proposed zoning districts, including all permitted uses and all permissible uses by exception for both districts;
(4) The date of the Planning Commission public meeting.
(5) If a PUD is proposed, a summary prepared by the staff of the written description, a copy of the site plan and a note advising that a copy of the full written description is available from the Department upon request or may be reviewed at the Department or in the City Council Division of Legislative Services. The note should also advise that, due to the limitations of copying larger site plans to 8½ × 11-inch size for mailing purposes, the site plans contained in the mailed notice may be difficult to read and any individuals interested in reviewing the site plan are encouraged to view the original site plan maintained by the Department;
(6) A statement in substantial compliance with the following form:
(i) Copies of the application and Department reports are maintained by the Department and the City Council Division of Legislative Services and are open to public inspection; and
(ii) All interested persons wishing to submit testimony, written comments or other evidence in this matter should submit same to the City Council Division of Legislative Services and/or appear at the public hearing;
(7) Instructions for obtaining further information concerning the application;
(8) Name, address and telephone number of applicant or applicant's agent;
(9) The date upon which the staff report and recommendation on the application is expected or scheduled to be issued, together with a statement that such date is preliminary and subject to change due to the Department's need for additional information necessary to finalize the report, deferrals by the Council or for other reasons beyond the Department's control;
(10) A statement advising that citizen input may be submitted to the Department prior to the formulation of the staff report and recommendation and that opportunities for citizen input are also available at the public hearings and such input is encouraged by the City;
(11) A statement advising that large signs are required to be posted and maintained at intervals of approximately 200 feet along all street sides of land in full view of the public or, if there is no frontage on a public street, on the nearest street right-of-way with a notation indicating the direction and distance to the land upon which an application has been filed, within five working days after an application has been determined complete by the Department and further advising that if such signs are not posted, citizens are requested to notify the Department concerning the lack of signs;
(12) Information concerning the criteria upon which a rezoning application is evaluated and upon which the Council's decision to rezone is required to be based;
(13) A statement advising that rezonings are quasi-judicial decisions (and an explanation of what a quasi-judicial decision is) and that testimony provided must be fact-based; and
(14) An explanation concerning burdens of proof and the type of testimony that is allowable, relevant and legally sufficient to support a rezoning decision.
The intent of these increased notice requirements is to provide adjacent owners and registered neighborhood organizations with the basic necessary information to make an informed decision concerning their position on the application and, if additional information is required, to provide guidance on how to obtain that information. Recognizing that mistakes may occur in the process of copying these notices or the additional information to be included in the notice package, it is the specific intent of this Section that the failure of an owner or registered neighborhood organization required by this Section to be notified by mail to receive the notice, or the failure to receive a complete and accurate notice, shall not invalidate or otherwise have any effect upon a public meeting, hearing or action taken by the Planning Commission, committee or the Council on the application for rezoning.
(b) Notice of a public hearing to be held by the appropriate committee of the Council shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation not less than 14 days in advance of the date of the hearing. The published notice shall be in a form prescribed by the committee and placed by the Division of Legislative Services at the expense of the applicant. The applicant shall file proof of publication with the Division of Legislative Services prior to the public hearing.
(c) The applicant for a rezoning shall post signs at intervals of not more than 200 feet along all street sides of land upon which an application for rezoning is made. The signs shall be in the form required by the committee and shall be posted in full view of the public. Where the land does not have frontage on a public street, the signs shall be erected on the nearest street right-of-way with an attached notation indicating generally the direction and distance to the land for which rezoning is sought, or at such other locations and at such intervals, as determined by the Zoning Administrator, as will ensure that the signs will be seen by as many persons as possible. Within ten working days after the applicant has been notified that the application for rezoning has been determined to be complete by the Department, the applicant shall provide the Department with a picture of each posted sign and a notarized affidavit approved by the Department in which the applicant acknowledges that the signs have been posted in conformance with this Section. The signs shall be maintained by the applicant for a rezoning until such time as a final determination has been made by the Council. The signs shall be inspected by the Department subsequent to posting, at least once, a reasonable period of time prior to the advertised public hearing, but not less than 14 days prior to the public meeting at the Planning Commission. If such inspection reveals that the sign(s) herein required have not been properly maintained, the Department shall inform the applicant and the applicant shall have three working days to repost the signs and provide the Department with a picture of each posted sign and a notarized affidavit approved by the Department in which the applicant acknowledges that the signs have been reposted in conformance with this Section. The failure of the Department to make such inspections or of the signs to remain in place, as required herein, shall not invalidate or otherwise have any effect upon a public hearing or action taken by the committee or the Council on an application for rezoning. The sign(s) shall be removed by the applicant within ten days after final action by the Council on the application for rezoning.
(d) Reserved.
(e) In the event an ordinance for a waiver of the provisions of the Zoning Code is introduced into the Council and such ordinance has the effect of waiving a provision of the Zoning Code as it affects a specific parcel of property, then the public hearing requirements of Section 656.123 and the notice requirements of subsection (c) of this Section shall apply to that ordinance. See also Section 656.133, Ordinance Code.
(f) To receive a public hearing notice for proposed rezonings set forth in subsection (a) above, a neighborhood organization must be listed in the most current Directory of Neighborhood Organizations, together with any addenda thereto, promulgated by the Mayor, as the same may exist from time to time, and must serve a neighborhood whose boundaries have been mapped on the Neighborhood Organization Notice Map and one or more of those boundaries is within 350 feet from the land which is the subject of the application or the land is located within the boundaries of a mapped neighborhood. Any interested neighborhood organization must register with the City, stating the desire to receive notices under this Section, and provide the following required information to insure such notification is effective: (1) the name and address of the officer or other individual designated to receive the notice on behalf of the organization; (2) a letter signed by the chief officer or a resolution to indicate the authority of such individual, if not a corporate officer, to receive the notice; and (3) a clear description of the boundaries of the service area of the neighborhood organization. Boundaries are assumed to be correct unless challenged by an adversely affected person or an error is discovered during the mapping process.
(g) Any neighborhood organization may register with the Neighborhoods Department or the Zoning Administrator; provided, however, that the Neighborhoods Department shall transmit the information provided by a neighborhood organization to the Zoning Administrator, and further provided that all information provided, regardless of the source, must be adequate to satisfy the Zoning Administrator, who must maintain an accurate and up-to-date map to satisfy legal requirements. The Zoning Administrator shall not place the boundaries of a neighborhood organization on the map until he receives the information required under subsection (f).
(h) The Zoning Administrator shall update the Neighborhood Organization Notice Map and required information from year to year in order to obtain current information for each organization shown on the map and shall utilize the map and information provided to comply with the notice requirements of subsection (a) by attaching to the application the names and addresses of the neighborhood organizations to be notified. There shall be no additional charge to the applicant for the notices to be delivered to the neighborhood organizations. As used herein, the term Neighborhood Organization Notice Map means the map prepared by the City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department, GIS Section, dated April, 1999 specifically for use in sending notices to neighborhood organizations pursuant to this Section, as updated from time to time to place newly registered neighborhoods on the map or to remove neighborhoods which have not provided current information. The Zoning Administrator shall send notices to each neighborhood organization on the map by September 30 of each year requesting information to be confirmed or updated by December 31. Second requests shall be sent to neighborhood organizations which have not responded, requesting a response by February 15. The map will be updated annually, based on the information provided, as of March 31 of each year.
(i) If the subject property is on the border of a neighborhood organization's service area, as shown on the neighborhood map, notice shall be given to neighborhood organizations serving all sides of such border within 350 feet of the subject property. If a neighborhood organization is not listed in the most recently published Directory of Neighborhood Organizations, it may qualify to receive notices, subject to providing the information required in subsection (f), upon certification from the Mayor's Office or from the Mayor's neighborhood liaison officer that such neighborhood organization has been added to an addendum to the Directory and the neighborhood organization has registered with the City as required herein.
(j) As used in this Section, the term "neighborhood organization" means either a duly incorporated citizen's or homeowner's group or an association, either incorporated or unincorporated, and approved by the Department of Neighborhoods, which is organized for the purpose of considering and acting upon any of a broad range of issues affecting the livability and quality of their neighborhood. Neighborhood boundaries are generally set either by natural features, such as topography, stream valleys or terrain; by major streets; by artificial features such as railroad tracks, power lines or other development obstruction, or by recreational, open space uses or community facilities. As used in this Section, the term "neighborhood organization" shall not be construed to mean an "umbrella" organization whose membership is comprised of two or more neighborhood organizations.
(k) For purposes of subsections (a), (c) and (d) of this Section, for properties located within the Downtown Overlay Zone, as defined in Section 656.361.2, all references to "Zoning Administrator" shall mean a designated staff member of the Downtown Investment Authority, and all references to "Planning Commission" shall mean the Downtown Development Review Board. Furthermore, the requirement contained in subsection (a) of this Section concerning mailed notification to owners of real property within 350 feet of the boundaries of the land upon which the rezoning is requested shall not apply unless such notice is determined by Downtown Investment Authority staff to be appropriate, however, the applicant shall submit an electronic version of the published notice to DIA staff for placement on the City's website.
(Ord. 91-59-148, § 1; Ord. 96-801-506, § 1; Ord. 97-972-E, § 1; Ord. 98-775-E, § 2; Ord. 98-678-E, § 3; Ord. 1999-358-E, § 1; Ord. 2000-445-E, § 2; Ord. 2002-714-E, § 4; Ord. 2007-564-E, § 3; Ord. 2009-548-E, § 2; Ord. 2012-364-E, § 10; Ord. 2013-209-E, § 40; Ord. 2015-378-E, § 1; Ord. 2016-140-E, § 16; Ord. 2017-318-E, § 5)
