Rules of Procedure

ARTICLE I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1
These rules are formulated and adopted in conjunction with and as supplementary to the provisions of the applicable Illinois Statutes and the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Wheaton, Illinois, as those provisions relate to procedures of the Planning and Zoning Board, herein called Board.

Section 2
Any Board member who has a financial interest in the property or affairs of the applicant or appealing party or has some other direct conflict of interest in any matter before the Board shall not participate in the hearing, discussion, or vote thereon, and may not be counted as a member present for a quorum. A Board member is presumed to have a direct conflict of interest if the member has a financial interest in or lives upon a property that abuts or adjoins at any point the subject property in a zoning hearing, or that would do so in the absence of any City street, alley or right-of-way. No other conflict of interest is presumed based on a Board member's ownership or residence, but any Board member may recuse themself if that Board member believes they have any direct conflict of interest. However, a recused Board member may participate in a zoning hearing to the same extent as any other citizen or member of the public.

Section 3
Nothing herein shall be construed to give or grant to the Board the power or authority to amend the Zoning Ordinance, either its text or the zoning map, or sections 2-336 or 2-337 of the Wheaton City Code relating to the Board, such power and authority to amend being reserved to the City Council of the City of Wheaton.

Section 4
The address of the Board shall be the City Hall of the City of Wheaton, Illinois.

Section 5
The Board shall hold its hearings in the City Hall in Wheaton, Illinois, unless the Board directs that a particular hearing or hearings be held elsewhere.

Section 6
Discussion of the merits of any pending zoning hearing with any other Board member, except by sworn testimony at a public hearing, is improper, and may be considered prejudicial to that case.

Section 7
The Board shall not commence either any new matter or taking the testimony of a new witness in any matter past 11:00 p.m. The Board may waive this rule upon a majority vote of those members present.

Section 8
The rules contained in the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, shall govern the Board in all instances in which they are applicable but only to the extent they are not inconsistent with these Rules of Procedure, all applicable statues and ordinances, and any special rules of order the Board may adopt from time to time.

ARTICLE II - OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Section 1
The officers of the Board shall be a Chair and a Secretary.

Section 2
The Chair shall supervise the affairs of the Board. The Chair shall preside at all hearings or meetings of the Board and shall provide for oaths to be administered to all witnesses in cases before the Board.

Section 3
In case of the absence or disability of the Chair, the Acting Chair shall perform all duties and exercise all of the powers of the Chair.

Section 4
The Director of Planning and Economic Development or designee shall serve as Secretary to the Board. In the case of the absence or temporary disability of the Secretary, the Board or Secretary may name an Acting Secretary to carry out the functions of the Secretary's office until the Secretary returns or until a successor is appointed.

Section 5
The Secretary shall record and maintain permanent minutes of the Board's proceedings, showing the vote of every member upon every Board decision, or indicating the fact of any member's absence or failure to vote; shall keep a record of the Board's official actions; shall summarize accurately the testimony of those appearing before the Board; shall, subject to the instructions of the Chair, conduct the correspondence of the Board and provide and have published notices of public hearings as required by law and these rules of procedure; and shall be custodian of all minutes and records of the Board.

ARTICLE III - MEETINGS

Section 1
Regular meetings shall be held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 P.M.

Section 2
Regular meetings may be canceled by the Chair when there are no zoning hearings pending, in which event notification of said cancellation shall be given to members of the Board.

Section 3
The Board may hold special meetings on call of the Chair or at the written request of four members of the Board, provided at least 48 hours' notice of any such meeting is given by mail or telephone to each member.

Section 4
All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public and subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120, and no official action shall be taken except at such a public meeting. If the Board holds any closed meetings pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, the Board shall cause a recording of all closed sessions to be made in conformance with such Act.

ARTICLE IV - ORDER OF BUSINESS

Section 1
The order of business of the Board shall be as follows, however, the Chair, with the consent of the Board, shall be allowed to alter the order of business if deemed necessary:

1. Roll call and declaration of quorum.
2. Approval of minutes of the previous meeting.
3. Citizen Comment
4. Call of cases on agenda.
5. Hearing of:
   1. Continued cases,
   2. Applications for amendments,
   3. Applications for planned unit developments,
   4. Applications for special use permits,
   5. Applications for variations,
   6. Appeals,
   7. Other zoning matters.
6. Miscellaneous business.
7. Adjournment.

ARTICLE V - PROCEDURE FOR HEARINGS

Section 1
At the time of the hearing, the applicant and any other person may appear and participate on their own behalf or be represented by an attorney or other representative. Each person participating shall identify themselves and address for the record, and the person(s) whom they represent, at the beginning of their testimony. The City shall be considered a party in every proceeding and need not appear.

Section 2
The Board shall provide for a verbatim transcript of the proceedings, including the Board's deliberations, by a court reporter. The transcript for each hearing shall be made a part of the pertinent case file. Matters other than hearings and portions of meetings pertaining to cases on the Board's calendar do not require a verbatim transcript but shall be recorded or summarized in minutes taken by the Secretary.

Section 3
All witnesses shall testify under oath.

Section 4
The hearing shall proceed in the following order:

1. The Chair shall state the nature of the case and relief sought.
2. Proof of lawful notice shall be introduced into the record.
3. Identification of applicant and objectors or other interested parties.
4. Applicant and/or their representatives shall be sworn in and may make a brief opening statement.
5. The applicant presents witnesses and other evidence.
6. Board cross-examines applicant's witnesses and other evidence.
7. Objectors and other interested parties cross-examine applicant's witnesses and other evidence.
8. Objectors and other interested parties present witnesses and other evidence.
9. Board cross-examines witnesses and other evidence of objectors and other interested parties.
10. Applicant cross-examines witnesses and other evidence of objectors and other interested parties.
11. Rebuttal by applicant as to new matter presented by objectors.
12. Evidence by additional witnesses called by the Board.
13. Concluding statement of applicant.
14. Concluding statement of objectors and other interested parties.
15. Rebuttal statement by applicant, if requested.

Section 5
Zoning hearings will normally be held on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

Section 6
Upon request by the Chair or motion of the Board, a person intending to testify on behalf of another person, a group, or an organization may be required to submit written authorization of such person, group, or organization prior to testifying.

Section 7
The Board shall not be bound by the strict rules of evidence, but may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious testimony. The Chair shall rule on all questions relating to the admissibility of evidence, which ruling may be overruled by a majority of the Board members present. The Chair may impose reasonable, fair, and equally administered limitations on testimony or other evidence presented any party, such as time limits and exclusion of irrelevant, immaterial, or repetitious testimony in order to reasonably accommodate all parties. The Chair may also impose reasonable conditions on the hearing process based on: (a) the complexity of the issues; (b) the special expertise of any witness; (c) whether the testimony reflects a matter of taste or personal opinion or concerns a disputed issue of fact or law; (d) the standards or factors to be considered in making a decision or recommendation; and (e) such other factors appropriate for the particular hearing. The Chair shall take such actions as may be required to maintain an orderly and civil hearing, which actions may be overruled by a majority of the Board members present.

Section 8
Once the public hearing is closed, new evidence may not be offered unless the Board reopens the hearing by a majority vote of the members present. Following the close of the public hearing, either at the same meeting or its next meeting, the Board will conduct its deliberation and make its decision or recommendation in accordance with Article XIII.

ARTICLE VI - CONTINUANCES

Section 1
Continuances may be granted at the discretion of the Board and only upon good cause shown.

ARTICLE VII - FAILURE OF APPLICANT TO APPEAR

Section 1
Whenever an applicant or their representative fails to appear, the Chair may entertain a motion from the Board to continue the hearing to the next meeting of the Board. Should the applicant fail to appear or fail otherwise to request a continuance a second time, the Chair shall entertain a motion from the Board to dismiss the case.

Section 2
In cases which are dismissed, the applicant shall be furnished written notice by the Secretary of the Board. Dismissal shall not of itself bar the filing of a new application for appeal or variation.

ARTICLE VIII - DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Section 1
The Board shall conduct its deliberations and make all motions, votes, decisions, or recommendations in a public session, except as permitted in closed sessions by the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The Board will ordinarily vote on any matter for which a public hearing transcript will be prepared at its next regular meeting following the public hearing, but it may continue the hearing if deemed necessary and will then ordinarily vote on the matter at the meeting during which the hearing is concluded. It shall be the Board's discretion, on a unanimous voice vote, to discuss the merits of the application and vote on the application at the same meeting during which the public hearing is concluded. The Board will ordinarily vote on any matter for which a public hearing transcript is not required at the same meeting during which the public hearing is held, but it may continue the hearing or vote if deemed necessary by any Board member.

Section 2
Final disposition of any appeal shall be in the form of a resolution affirming, modifying, or revising the order, requirement, decision, or other determination of the Director of Planning and Economic Development.

Section 3
Final disposition of any application for variation shall be in the form of a written report to the City Council. The report shall include the Board's findings of fact as required by Section 5.7 of the Zoning Ordinance, including any conditions of approval that the Board might deem advisable, either directly or by reference to and concurrence with written materials attached to the report.

Section 4
Final disposition by the Board on applications for amendment, planned unit development or special use permit shall be in the form of a written report and recommendation to the City Council and shall include the Board's findings of fact, including any conditions of approval that the Board might deem advisable.

Section 5
Members of the Board absent and not hearing all the evidence as to a particular matter shall not be eligible to vote thereon unless they have read the transcript of the particular matter. The concurring vote of the majority of those members present shall be necessary for any decision or recommendation in favor of an application for an appeal, variation, special use permit, amendment, planned unit development, or any amendments thereto. If the motion fails to receive the majority vote of those members present in favor of the application, the motion shall be considered defeated.

ARTICLE IX - RECORDS

Section 1
A file of materials and decisions relating to each case shall be kept in the office of the Director of Planning and Economic Development by the Secretary as a part of the public records of the Board.

ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS

The foregoing rules and regulations are hereby adopted by the Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Wheaton on: