02/01/94 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

THE ZONING REPORT For Planning and Zonin~ Professionals ISSN 0748-0083 VOL 12, NO 1 ~- JAN 7, 1994 -- Charles Reed, AICP, Editor/Publisher -- $58/year/subscription HOW TO SET UP R]DGULATIONS FOR KFARING EXAMINE}~ (Part One of two parts) There's eot to be a better way to hold zoning public hearings and decide cases, hlany com- munities believe they may have found a better way. They replace their BZA or CPC and elected board with a hearing examiner to hear and decide variances and rezonings. We take two issues to discuss this topic. This issue~ Part One, provides our rules, ideas, sug- gestions and caveats for setting up hearing examiner provisions in zoning codes, along with eleven suggested code sections. Part Two, which you receive in two weeks on January 21s%, quotes selected zoning code provisions that illustrate our commentary from Part One. increasing number of special uses, site plan reviews, special zones, planned zones and ex- ceptional uses. All of these require the filing of applications that lengthen agendas. Still yet only one citizen board remains at each level to hear these applications as cases. Thirdly, court case law is beginning to re- quire zoning public hearings be conducted in a quasi-judicial framework rather than in the traditional informal legislative setting. In the quasi-judicial framework, hearings are conduct- ed in a highly structured format that emulates the procedure used in court trials. Each case must have written findings, with conclusions that support its decision. ..... Fourth; state legislatures are mandating that Communities switch to hearing examiners' ....... ~'.~'"'; lo~alitie'~ prepare a comprehensive plan and are for these five reasons ~,otrequiring that zoning case decisions conform to '.--~\!~ L ~' ~t. This reomrement sh~ts the tactics for win- For the first reason, one or more of 'the c!tj-,~-,~ning zoning cases from emotional appeals and zen boards that hear and decide zoningl cas~s' ~-packing the auditorium with sign-waving advo- burn out and become disillusioned at-whether they are obtaining benefits for whatever pur- poses--political, community-building or a sense of civic duty. Members of the BZA, CPC and elected board come to the realization that there is no end to the all-day acrimony one to four times a month, in 8-12 hour meetings, with irate citizens and unhappy participants leaning on board members day and night. Secondly, zoning agendas get longer as the case load grows because the trend of zoning code text changes is to create more situations that require public hearings. These include an cares to a strategy linked to the comprehen- sive plan. If the comprehensive plan must be amended before the zoning is heard so that the rezoning and the plan are consistent, the hearing exam- iner holds hearings and decides rezonings and the CPC considers and adopts amendments to the comprehensive plan. The linkage between the rezoning and plan change both previously heard by the CPC is now separately decided by two bodies independent of each other, Fifth. communities expect the hearing exam- iner process to reduce %he number of appeals ¢' 1994 by Charles Reed ........ 1404 N. State Road 7, Suite 269; Margate, Florida 33063 I I I i I I I I I I I I I -- Mailing address: PO Box 6529; Margate, Florida 33063