Upon review of the reports and recommendations submitted, an ordinance may be adopted authorizing and directing the establishment and maintenance of a pedestrian mall facility or special improvement district. In addition to other requirements for the consideration and adoption of ordinances, at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for a public hearing thereon, a copy of the proposed ordinance and notice of the date, time and place of the hearing shall be mailed to the owners of the lots or parcels of land abutting or directly affected by any proposed pedestrian mall or included in the special improvement district proposed by the ordinance, as the case may be.

In the case of a special improvement district, the ordinance may include the requirement that construction or alteration of building and structure facades be subject to prior review and approval to assure compliance with design criteria included in the ordinance. The design criteria shall be approved by the municipal planning board prior to inclusion in the ordinance. A municipal officer or agency shall be designated by ordinance to conduct the review and grant or deny approvals of proposed construction or alteration of facades. In lieu of that designation, the governing body may designate the district management corporation to conduct these reviews and grant or deny these approvals, but only if the governing body finds in the ordinance that the corporation is so constituted and organized as to be reasonably appropriate and qualified for this role. If the district management corporation is so designated, the ordinance may provide for the appeal of individual determinations of the corporation to the municipal planning board.

L. 1972, c. 134; amended by L. 1984, c. 151, s. 7; 1987, c. 248, s. 1.