Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation amends Chapter 3327 of the Columbus City Codes, 1959, as part of the implementation of the settlement agreement negotiated between the City of Columbus and The New Victorians Inc. pursuant to Ordinance No. 1431-2004. Ordinance No. 1431-2004 authorized the payment of $127, 000 to The New Victorians and gave the City Attorney the authority to negotiate the non monetary terms in order to settle five pending lawsuits filed by The New Victorians against the members of the Italian Village Commission and certain City employees.
In particular, this legislation clarifies the definition of quorum to mean that a majority of Italian Village Commission members appointed to and serving on the commission are physically present at the meeting. Additionally, this legislation creates a "sunset provision" whereby an application for a certificate of appropriateness will be deemed granted if the commission fails to muster a quorum within 45 days after a completed application is filed with the Historic Preservation Office or for two successive scheduled meetings of any kind. Similarly, an application will be deemed granted if an application is considered at a meeting where a quorum is present and the commission fails to approve or deny the application except where the applicant requests a continuance.
Because this proposed language is inconsistent with existing provisions contained in Chapter 3116 of the City Code as well as the codes pertaining to other architectural review commissions, this ordinance specifies that the changes adopted herein shall supercede any inconsistent language contained in other chapters of the City Code. At the end of one year, the city shall evaluate whether it is appropriate to apply the provisions to all other area commissions exercising architectural review authority At some future point, the City may consider adopting additional code changes to address this inconsistency.
FISCAL IMPACT: None ...
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