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A Planning and Zoning Appeals Board is hereby established. Said board will henceforth serve all duties of and assume the authority previously assigned to the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment. This shall include the additional roles of hearing appeals from the decision of the Building Inspector and Watershed Administrator as needed. Henceforth any reference to Planning Board or Board of Adjustment made in city ordinance shall be considered synonymous with Planning and Zoning Appeals Board or Board as used herein.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21)
(A) Membership. The Planning and Zoning Appeals Board shall consist of nine regular members and three alternate members. Alternate members shall serve on the Board in the absence or temporary disqualification of any regular member or to fill a vacancy pending appointment of a member. Alternate members shall be appointed for the same term, at the same time, and in the same manner as regular members. Each alternate member serving on behalf of any regular member has all the powers and duties of a regular member. Each member shall take an oath of office before starting his or her duties on the Board.
(B) Terms. Regular members and the first, second and third alternate members shall be appointed by the City Council to the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board for three year terms. Council shall maintain the starting and end date for all terms on the same day and month as decided by Council at the time of initial appointment. When the City Council is making initial appointments, appointments due to term expiration or appointments due to mid-term vacancies, they may appoint certain members for less than three years so that the terms of all members shall remain evenly staggered so as not expire in the same year. Any term for which a member has been appointed to and served for at least 50% of the days of the term shall be considered a full term. Members may be re-appointed by Council at the end of each term, however at the end of a second, consecutive, full term as a regular member, Board members shall not be eligible for reappointment until the expiration of one year from the end date of the member's last term. However, in order to maintain a full and functional Board, a member may continue to serve indefinitely until a replacement is appointed by Council.
(C) Compensation. All regular and alternate members who attend meetings are entitled to compensation and may be reimbursed for any expenses incurred while representing the Board, and for any mandatory training deemed to be a requirement.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21)
(A) Officers. The Planning and Zoning Appeals Board shall elect a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and create and fill any offices as it may determine from its members. Such elections shall be done during regular, open meetings and shall take place as soon as possible following each new term for appointment. The term of the chairman and other officers shall be one year or approximated to be as close to one year as allowed by term expiration, appointment and scheduling of meetings. Each elected officer shall be eligible for re-election.
(B) Administration. The Board shall be administered by an employee of the city as determined by the Planning Director. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, the Administrator shall be responsible for preparing agendas, advertising for meetings and agenda items, maintaining a roster of members, recording and drafting of minutes and assisting the chair in conducting the meeting and general administration of the Board.
(C) Rules. The Board shall adopt rules and bylaws in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the general statutes.
(D) Meetings. Meetings of the Board shall be held at regularly scheduled dates and times as agreed upon by its members and at other times as the Board may determine and in accordance with general statutes. Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with city ordinance, general statutes and Board. The Chairperson, or in his or her absence, the Vice-Chairperson, shall preside over the meeting. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. There shall be a quorum of five members for the purpose of taking any official action, however some decisions of the Board shall require a greater number as required by general statute or city ordinance.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21)
It shall be the duty of the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board to serve in an advisory capacity to City Council, in general, and to do the following.
(A) Acquire and maintain in current form basic information and materials as are necessary to an understanding of past trends, present conditions, and forces at work to cause changes in these conditions.
(B) Prepare and, from time to time, amend and revise a comprehensive and coordinated plan for the physical development of the city.
(C) Establish principles and policies for guiding action in the development of the city.
(D) Prepare and recommend to the City Council ordinances promoting orderly development along the lines indicated in the comprehensive plan.
(E) Determine whether specific proposed developments conform to the principles and requirements of the comprehensive plan for the growth and improvement of the city.
(F) Conduct administrative hearings to review and approve or deny proposed major subdivisions in accordance with the standards and procedures of Planning and Regulation of Development chapters of this code.
(G) Review proposed map and text amendments and make recommendations to City Council.
(H) Keep the Council and the general public informed and advised as to these matters.
(I) Perform any other duties which may lawfully be assigned to it.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21; Am. Ord. 24-06, passed 2-19-24)
(A) As background for its comprehensive plan and any ordinances it may prepare, the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board may gather maps and aerial photographs for man-made and natural physical features of the city, statistics on past trends and present conditions with respect to population, property values, the economic base of the community, land use, and other information as is important or likely to be important in determining the amount, direction, and kind of development to be expected in the city and its various parts.
(B) In addition, the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board may make, cause to be made, or obtain special studies on the location, condition, and adequacy of specific facilities, which may include, but are not limited to, studies of housing; commercial and industrial facilities; parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities; public and private utilities; and traffic, transportation, and parking facilities.
(C) All city officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board, available records or information as it may require in its work. The Board or its agents may, in the performance of its official duties, enter upon lands and make examinations or surveys and maintain necessary monuments thereon.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21)
(A) As a condition of adopting and applying zoning regulations, the municipality shall adopt and reasonably maintain a comprehensive plan or land-use plan. The comprehensive plan, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts and descriptive matter, shall be and show the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board's recommendations to the City Council for the development of the territory, including, among other things, the general location, character and extent of streets, bridges, boulevards, parkways, playgrounds, squares, parks, aviation fields and other public ways, grounds and open spaces; the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned or operated, for water, light, sanitation, transportation, communication, power and other purposes; also, the removal, relocation, widening, narrowing, vacating, abandonment, change of use or extension of any of the foregoing ways, buildings, grounds, open spaces, property, utilities, or terminals.
(B) The plan and any ordinances or other measures to effectuate it shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted, and harmonious development of the city and its environs which will, in accordance with present and future needs, best promote health, safety, morals, and the general welfare, as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development; including, among other things, adequate provision for traffic, the promotion of safety from fire and other dangers, adequate provision for light and air, the promotion of the healthful and convenient distribution of population, the promotion of good civic design and arrangement, wise and efficient expenditure of public funds, and the adequate provision of public utilities, services and other public requirements.
(C) Adoption and effect of plan. Plans shall be adopted by the governing board with the advice and consultation of the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board. Adoption and amendment of a comprehensive or land-use plan is a legislative decision and shall follow the process mandated for zoning text amendments set by §§ 21.007
and 92.140
. Plans adopted under this chapter may be undertaken and adopted as part of or in conjunction with plans required under other statutes. Plans adopted under this chapter shall be advisory in nature without independent regulatory effect. Plans adopted under this chapter do not expand, diminish or alter the scope of authority for development regulations adopted under this chapter. Plans adopted under this chapter shall be considered by the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board and governing board when considering proposed amendments to zoning regulations as required by G.S. 160D-604 and G.S. 160D-605. If a plan is deemed amended by G.S. 160D-605 by virtue of adoption of a zoning amendment that is inconsistent with the plan, that amendment shall be noted in the plan. However, if the plan is one that requires review and approval subject to G.S. 113A-110, the plan amendment shall not be effective until that review and approval is completed.
(Ord. 18-30, passed 9-4-18; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21)
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