Article XIII. PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR ZONING CHANGE OR AMENDMENTS  

No amendment, supplement, or change of zoning ordinance or zoning district map shall become effective unless and until:

(a)

The petitioner executes a petition for zoning change. The planning commission may require supplementary data including, but not limited to, a plat plan, site plan, or building plans.

(b)

The petitioner files zoning petition with the director of planning and development.

(c)

The director of planning and development forwards petition and supporting documents to the planning commission and sets a date for a public hearing. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published at least three (3) times in the official journal of the parish, and at least ten (10) days shall elapse between the first publication and the date of the hearing.

No action will be taken by the [parish council] on the zoning petition until after such public hearing has been made.

(d)

The planning commission, after reviewing the petition and hearing comments at the public hearing, will make their recommendation known at the public hearing for the approval, conditional approval, or disapproval of the petition. The planning commission may limit the permitted uses in any zoning district as a condition of approving any rezoning petition. Furthermore, in the granting of any rezoning petition, the planning commission shall prescribe any performance standards, including but not limited to landscaping, greenbelts, buffering, fencing, and all other applicable standards it deems to be necessary, desirable, and reasonable. These recommendations will then be forwarded to the [parish council] by the planning commission staff.

(e)

The [parish council] receives the recommendation of the planning commission and approves, conditionally approves, or disapproves the petition. The [parish council] may limit the permitted uses in any zoning district as a condition of approving any rezoning petition. Furthermore, in the granting of any rezoning petition, the [parish council] shall prescribe any performance standards including, but not limited to, landscaping, greenbelts, buffering, fencing, and all other applicable standards it deems to be necessary, desirable, and reasonable.

(f)

A petitioner may withdraw his petition at any time up to its consideration by the [parish council]. However, if a zoning petition is withdrawn by the petitioner after the public hearing has been held, or if the [parish council] disapproves of the request contained in the petition, then no further petition for the same property will be considered by the [parish council] for a period of one (1) year from the date of the public hearing. This provision shall not apply in cases where the [parish council] wished to consider a petition involving a zoning amendment of an area larger than twenty (20) acres.

(g)

The provisions of this section do not apply in cases where there is a proposal to enact an entire new ordinance to change the text as a whole, or to change all of the zoning district map, or both, in which the procedures set out in Legislative Act 196 of 1960 and Legislative Act 29 of 1983 shall be followed.