A. Purpose. Certain land uses and developments present unique needs with respect to their proper location and relationship to other land uses. Within various districts certain uses may be permitted by special use permit after analysis and judgment of the consequences of each such development by the Planning and Zoning Commission to ensure that the public health, safety and general welfare are protected and preserved.
B. Procedure. The following procedure shall be implemented in the consideration and determination of the issuance or non-issuance of the special use permit:
1. Applications for special use permits shall be filed with the Community Development Department at least thirty (30) days before the next regularly scheduled Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, unless prior written approval is granted by the Director. The application shall specify the locations of the building, the height, the area and shall include a site plan for the lot. The site plan shall include a legal description, lot and building footing dimensions, appropriate zone district setbacks, landscaping and parking requirements, contours and drainage ways, proposed or existing easements, public improvements and, if possible or necessary, an artist's rendering in the horizontal view. The application shall specify the use sought to be permitted by the special use permit. The department may require submittal of a traffic study when deemed appropriate. The application shall further state why the use is needed and the applicant's opinion as to the affect of the use on surrounding properties. At the time that the application is filed, a fee shall be paid to the City of Fenton. The fees for special use permits shall be set forth in Addendum "A".
2. The Director shall review the application as to form. Upon the determination by the Director that the form of the application is appropriate, the Director will present the matter to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The application shall be set for hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission within sixty (60) days of the date of the filing of the application. The notice of the hearing shall include the posting of public notice on the affected property; publication for no less than fifteen (15) days preceding the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the area of the City of Fenton. In addition, the City will be responsible for notifying all owners of property within three hundred (300) feet of the subject property by mail of the application and hearing date. Said notice shall be postmarked at least five (5) days prior to the scheduled public hearing. In the event the petitioner seeks more than one (1) continuance of any published or notified hearing, the petitioner shall be responsible for reimbursement of any re-publication and/or mailing notification costs prior to any action by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
3. In addition to the above, the Director shall cause a sign or signs, not less than two (2) feet high by three (3) feet wide, to be placed on all parcels of land on which an application for a special permit has been filed with the Planning and Zoning Commission.
a. Sign or signs shall be placed on such parcels of land, at a point nearest to the right-of-way of any street or roadway abutting such parcel and so as to be clearly visible to the traveled portion of such street or roadway. The Director shall determine the number of additional signs to be placed that may be necessary to carry out the intent of this Code.
b. All signs shall have letters not less than two and one-half (2 1/2) inches in height and not less than three-eighths (3/8) inch in width with the following: "PUBLIC HEARING."
c. The Director may provide for such additional information to be placed on any such sign which would serve to fully inform the public as to the nature of such special permit pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission.
d. Any person or persons, firm, association or corporation who shall remove, mar, scratch, obliterate or in any manner deface, hide from view or tamper with any such sign or signs shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as set out in Section 100.060 of this Code.
4. The Commission, after public notice, shall conduct a hearing at which the applicant shall present such information, as the applicant deems necessary, to substantiate its request for a special use permit. The Commission shall hear any person wishing to speak in favor of the application after which time the Commission shall hear any person wishing to speak in opposition to the application, after which time the applicant may address or rebut any issues presented by the opposition. The Commission shall then close the public participation portion of the hearing. The Commission shall thereafter conduct a deliberation and discussion of the application, giving due consideration to the following:
a. Said use is designated, located and proposed to be operated in a manner that the public health, safety and general welfare will be protected.
b. Visual compatibility with adjacent land uses and surrounding area, including building height, form, materials and landscaping.
c. Accessibility of the property to police, fire, refuse collection and other municipal services; adequacy of ingress to and within the site; traffic control; adequacy of off-street parking.
d. Said use will not cause substantial injury to the value of adjacent parcels or other property in the surrounding area.
e. The use authorized by special use permit will conform to the applicable regulations of the district in which it is to be located.
These discussions shall be in public forum but no public participation shall be allowed. After review and deliberation the Commission shall vote the following question: Shall the special use permit be issued? A simple majority of the Commission is required to pass the proposition. If the proposition does not have a simple majority vote, the proposition fails and shall be taken as a negative recommendation.
5. The Commission shall communicate the results of its vote to the Board of Aldermen and may further communicate its reasons for recommending approval and/or its reasons for recommending denial and/or its reasons for failing to achieve a majority favorable vote. The Commission shall also recommend special conditions, if any, to the Board of Aldermen.
6. The failure of the Commission to act within sixty (60) days after the date of submission of the application for the special use permit in proper form to the Director shall be deemed approval.
7. After the Planning and Zoning Commission has advised the Board of its recommendation of approval or the failure of the proposition to attain a simple majority vote, the Board shall review the recommendation of the Commission and may review the transcript of the proceedings before the Commission after which time the Board shall consider the issuance of the special use permit by ordinance. Said ordinance shall be proposed and sponsored in the manner of all other ordinances and shall require a simple majority of the Board of Aldermen to enact, if approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, but if disapproved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, then a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Board shall be required to override said disapproval. The special use permit permitted by ordinance shall contain the special terms and conditions of the special use permit which shall be strictly adhered to by the applicant. Failure of the ordinance granting the special use permit to pass by simple majority shall be deemed a denial for the purposes of further judicial review or proceeding.
8. The permitted special use shall be reviewed annually by the Director to assure that the use and building are in compliance with the terms of the special use permit. If the Director determines non-compliance with the special use permit, notice of non-compliance shall be forwarded to the holder of the special use permit. Failure to achieve compliance within ninety (90) days of the notice of the Director shall be deemed cause to terminate the special use permit. Upon thirty (30) days' notice the Planning and Zoning Commission may cause a hearing to be held to determine whether or not the property or use is in compliance, and if deemed to be in non-compliance the Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend to the Board of Aldermen termination of the special use permit. The Board of Aldermen by simple majority vote, by ordinance, may terminate the special use permit acting upon the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
9. The review procedures set out herein to be accomplished on an annual basis shall not be required of a medical facility dedicated exclusively to providing dialysis and related treatment activities, so long as such facility is under the supervision and regulatory control of the appropriate authorities of the State of Missouri.