§ 6.0. Conduct of Hearings.

The following policies and procedures shall govern the conduct of public hearings under this Ordinance:

6.1

The Chairman of the Planning Commission or his/her delegate on the Commission shall open any hearing with an explanation of the purpose of the hearing and a description of the general rules for the conduct of the hearing. The Chairman or his/her delegate may describe the authority and role of the Planning Commission in any zoning decision. An individual requesting to be heard on a matter germane to the purpose of the hearing must be recognized by the Chairman or his/her delegate before addressing the Planning Commission. The Chairman or his/her delegate shall chair the hearing and shall determine germaneness of any proposed comment or presentation to the Planning Commission in the hearing and is authorized to rule any individual or a portion of any presentation out of order if not germane to the published purpose of the hearing. Any person requesting to address the Planning Commission upon being recognized by the Chairman or his/her delegate shall state his name and residence address before proceeding with any comment, remarks, or presentation. Any person addressing the Planning Commission shall respond to questions of the Chairman or any member of the Commission. The Chairman or his/her delegate may pre-determine the length of any hearing allotting equal time to proponents and opponents of any proposed zoning amendment to the extent that there are both proponents and opponents who desire to be heard. The Chairman or his/her delegate shall only be required to offer equal time to both proponents and opponents of any proposed zoning amendment and the fact that equal time is not in fact utilized by either position shall not invalidate any proceedings or action taken on the proposed amendment. The Chairman, however, shall allow a minimum time period to be no less than ten (10) minutes per side for the presentation of data, evidence, and opinion.

6.2

The Chairman or his/her delegate shall determine whether any application for zoning amendment is properly filed and the type of zoning decision for which the proposed amendment calls. The Chairman or his/her delegate shall confirm the giving of proper public notice of the hearing on the proposed zoning amendment in accordance with this Ordinance.

6.3

The Chairman or his/her delegate shall allow the person initiating the proposed zoning amendment or his/her/its designee to present a description of the proposed zoning amendment and the reason(s) for initiating the proposed zoning amendment. A failure of the applicant or his/her representative holding power-of-attorney to be present for the hearing shall result in automatic termination of any proceedings on the amendment and an adverse recommendation on the proposed amendment shall be forwarded to the Mayor and Council of the City of Chatsworth, unless the applicant can show just cause by reason of health emergency, in which case the application may be re-filed by the applicant for consideration at a later date.

6.4

The Chairman or his/her delegate shall enter into the record after the presentation of the applicant or his/her/its representative any written comment, petition, or similar written statement received by the Planning Commission prior to the hearing and the same shall be considered by the Mayor and Council with comments and proceedings of the hearing in making any zoning decision concerning the proposed zoning amendment.

6.5

The Chairman or his/her delegate shall give persons opposed to the proposed amendment the opportunity to address the Planning Commission.

6.6

The Chairman or his/her delegate may alternate the presentations of persons speaking in favor of and opposed to the proposed zoning amendment beginning with the presentation of the applicant or his/her/its representative, or the Chairman or his/her delegate may divide such presentations into blocks of time beginning with proponents of the proposed zoning amendment, and thereafter moving to the presentations of opponents of the proposed zoning amendment. Further, the Chairman or his/her delegate may direct that proponents and opponents designate one or more spokesperson(s) for representations of favorable and opposing views of the proposed zoning amendment. The Chairman or his/her delegate may poll the public assemblage at the hearing concerning their concurrence in the remarks of any speaker.

6.7

Any remark amounting to attack on the character or personal integrity of another individual, or comment not factually supportable, or comment in the form of an emotional outburst, shall be non-germane to the purpose of any hearing and may be ruled out of order.

6.8

Upon conclusion of the presentation of persons opposing the proposed zoning amendment, the Chairman or his/her delegate shall afford the person initiating the petition an allotted time to address the Planning Commission in rebuttal of any issue(s) raised by persons addressing the Planning Commission in opposition to the proposed zoning amendment. The Chairman or his/her delegate may rule out of order the raising of any new issue(s) in rebuttal unless he deems the raising of such new issues useful to the purposes of the hearing, in which case those persons present and opposing the proposed zoning amendment shall be allocated an equal amount of time through a spokesperson or otherwise to address such new issue(s).

6.9

When proponents and opponents of the proposed zoning amendment have been heard in accordance with the foregoing procedures, the Chairman or his/her delegate shall declare the public hearing closed. No further public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment shall be required prior to the final zoning decision.

( Ord. of 10-09 )