§ 5-507. Action by City Council.

(a) Committee hearing.

(1) The bill must be considered at a public hearing of a committee of the City Council. Notice of the public hearing must be given in accordance with Title 5, Subtitle 6 {"Notices"} of this Code.

(2) The committee must evaluate the bill in accordance with the standards in § 5-508 {"Approval standards"} of this subtitle.

(b) Council options.

The City Council may approve, amend, or disapprove any legislative authorization.

(c) Rehearing on amendment.

(1) Except as otherwise specified in this subsection, whenever a legislative authorization is amended:

(i) another public hearing must be held on the bill as amended; and

(ii) the requirements of this subtitle for notice and for agency reports apply to the additional hearing.

(2) An additional hearing is not required for:

(i) an amendment that consists only of a change in punctuation, grammar, or spelling and does not in any way alter the substance of the ordinance;

(ii) any other amendment that does not in any way alter the substance of the ordinance;

(iii) an amendment proposed in and approved by Committee; or

(iv) an amendment to a comprehensive rezoning if, for at least 14 days before any vote is taken on the amendment, a description of the amendment:

(A) has been provided to the Department of Legislative Reference and to the Department of Planning and by them made available for inspection and copying by the public; and

(B) has been posted on the Department of Planning's website.

(d) Failure to approve.

A bill proposing a legislative authorization is considered to have failed and the application denied if the City Council fails to act finally on the bill within 12 months from the earlier of:

(1) the date on which the last of the required agency reports and recommendations is received; and

(2) the last day of the agency reporting period, as set by this section.