No Action

[Artemus]

There was a zoning case at city council for 2nd reading. The public hearing was closed prior to first reading action (affirmative) in a prior meeting. At second reading, council did not make a motion. Their claim is that by no motion being made that the application to rezone is dead. Don't they have to take action on a case in order to have proper disposition?

[jstackpo]

This is really a legal question for your city lawyer to answer.  RONR doesn't deal with first or second "readings" so there is no telling, from an RONR point of view, what the answer might be.

[Josh Martin]

There was a zoning case at city council for 2nd reading. The public hearing was closed prior to first reading action (affirmative) in a prior meeting. At second reading, council did not make a motion. Their claim is that by no motion being made that the application to rezone is dead. Don't they have to take action on a case in order to have proper disposition?

 

RONR does not require second readings, and an application is indeed effectively dead (at least for the time being) if no one makes a motion to approve it. City councils quite frequently have their own rules on these subjects, however, and such rules supersede RONR, so be sure to check the council's rules and applicable law.

[Artemus]

RONR does not require second readings, and an application is indeed effectively dead (at least for the time being) if no one makes a motion to approve it. City councils quite frequently have their own rules on these subjects, however, and such rules supersede RONR, so be sure to check the council's rules and applicable law.

 

From the city code:

 

After a public hearing on a zoning or rezoning application, the council may:

(1)   approve the zoning or rezoning application as requested;

(2)   approve a more restrictive zoning classification than requested;

(3)   approve the requested classification or a more restrictive classification subject to conditions; or

(4)   deny the proposed zoning or rezoning.

[Josh Martin]

From the city code:

 

After a public hearing on a zoning or rezoning application, the council may:

 

(1)   approve the zoning or rezoning application as requested;

 

(2)   approve a more restrictive zoning classification than requested;

 

(3)   approve the requested classification or a more restrictive classification subject to conditions; or

 

(4)   deny the proposed zoning or rezoning.

 

Interpreting the City Code is beyond the scope of this forum.