West Virginia Code 8A-7-9 – Amendments to the zoning ordinance by petition
(a) After the enactment of the zoning ordinance, the planning commission or the owners of fifty percent or more of the real property in the area to which the petition relates may petition to amend the zoning ordinance. The petition must be signed and be presented to the planning commission or the clerk of the governing body.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 8A-7-9
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Governing body: means the body that governs a municipality or county. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Plan: means a written description for the development of land. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Planning commission: means a municipal planning commission, a county planning commission, a multicounty planning commission, a regional planning commission or a joint planning commission. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Zoning: means the division of a municipality or county into districts or zones which specify permitted and conditional uses and development standards for real property within the districts or zones. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
(b) Within sixty days after a petition to amend the zoning ordinance is received by the planning commission or the governing body, then the planning commission or the governing body must hold a public hearing after giving public notice. The public notice of the date, time and place of the public hearing must be published in a local newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the proposed zoning ordinance, as a Class I legal advertisement, in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, at least fifteen days prior to the public hearing.
(c) If the petition to amend the zoning ordinance is from the owners of fifty percent or more of the real property in the area, then before amending the zoning ordinance, the governing body with the advice of the planning commission, must find that the amendment is consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan. If the amendment is inconsistent, then the governing body with the advice of the planning commission, must find that there have been major changes of an economic, physical or social nature within the area involved which were not anticipated when the comprehensive plan was adopted and those changes have substantially altered the basic characteristics of the area.