The Signal Mountain Town Council is set to vote Aug. 13 on an ordinance that would change the process of rezoning property within town limits.
One of the main changes is to the timeline for applicants who want to rezone their property. Under the proposed new ordinance, applicants would need to make their requests to the town’s planning commission 60 days prior to the meeting when the request is to be considered, as opposed to the 15 days currently required. This gives extra time to get the rezoning process started, including posting signage to alert fellow community members, said Town Manager Boyd Veal.
The ordinance also deals with how public hearings are handled.
During planning commission meetings, the ordinance would limit the total length of the public comment period to 30 minutes and limit the time each individual may speak to three minutes.
In town council meetings, the applicant’s presentation would be limited to seven minutes, plus two additional minutes for a rebuttal for a total of nine minutes. The opposition would be allowed nine minutes, to be divided amongst the speakers.
The chairman of the planning commission or whoever is presiding over the town council meeting, typically the mayor, could allow presenters more time at their discretion, however, which Councilman and Planning Commissioner Dan Landrum said the planning commission felt was important to include in case there was a situation in which a presenter ran out of time with pertinent information still left to share.
If an applicant is denied, the new ordinance would reduce the time period the applicant would have to wait to reapply, from the current 12 months down to nine months. Veal said the planning commission felt the reduction was a fair trade-off considering some of the other new requirements included in the ordinance, such as more detailed requirements for the posting of signage related to the rezoning request.
If the ordinance passes on first reading, a public hearing will be advertised before the final vote.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.