A. A petition requesting a public hearing before the Board of Adjustments on any zoning, administrative use, or use permit application for new or change of retail or commercial use of any floor area amount in the C-1, C-1A, C-1B, and C-1C districts may be presented to the City Clerk. If the petition is found by the City Clerk to contain the valid signatures of no less than fifty registered Berkeley voters, a public hearing regarding the specific permit application shall be scheduled with proper notification to the neighborhood as provided for Section 22.12.090 herein. The petition for a public hearing on any zoning, administrative use, or use permit application must be filed within twenty days of the formal filing of the zoning, administrative use, or use permit application with the zoning division.

B. Upon the scheduling of a public hearing set forth in this section, the application that triggered the successful petition shall be evaluated according to the procedures and principles as set forth in this chapter and in the zoning ordinance, even if the original application did not require approval of the Board of Adjustments.

C. The applicant shall not be required to pay costs of a public hearing brought by petition. The zoning division, comprehensive Planning Department, or other City agency shall at all times have an up-to-date list of all building, zoning, administrative use, demolition, and land use permits applied for, and shall make such a list of pending applications available to the public upon request.

E. The provisions of this section shall expire two years after the effective date of this chapter. (Ord. 5506-NS § 10, 1982)