The Town Planning Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) was heretofore created and established pursuant to the Act, or prior enactments thereof.
(A) Powers and duties. The Commission shall be an advisory body to the Council on legislative matters, including the General Plan and land use ordinances. The Commission shall:
(1) Prepare, or cause to be prepared, the General Plan, all elements thereof, and all amendments thereto, and to submit such plan, elements or amendments to the Council;
(2) Prepare or cause to be prepared all land use ordinances, including this chapter, all standards, and requirements thereof, and all amendments thereto, and to submit such ordinances, standards, requirements, and all amendments to the Council;
(3) Prepare or cause to be prepared all official maps, all standards and requirements thereof, and all amendments thereto, and to submit such maps, standards, requirements and all amendments to the Council;
(4) Review and recommend approval or denial of all General Plan amendment applications and all land use ordinance amendment applications to the Council;
(5) Review and approve, approve with conditions or deny all conditional use applications;
(6) Review and recommend approval, approval with requirements or denial of all subdivision applications to the Council, as authorized by Ch. 152 of this code of ordinances;
(7) Review and recommend approval, approval with requirements or denial of all petitions for annexation to the Council;
(8) Review and recommend approval, approval with requirements or denial of all applications to establish an agricultural protection area;
(9) Act as an appeals authority, as provided herein;
(10) Adopt bylaws, policies and procedures for the conduct of the duties and meetings of the Commission, for the consideration of applications, and for any other purposes deemed necessary by the Commission, if such bylaws, policies and procedures are approved by the Council before taking effect; and
(11) Advise the Council on other matters, as the Council may direct.
(B) Qualifications for membership. Members of the Planning Commission shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council.
(C) Membership; appointment, removal, terms and vacancies.
(1) The Planning Commission shall be composed of five regular members, and one alternate member, appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council.
(2) The Council, after finding cause, may remove any member of the Commission for a violation of this chapter or any policies or procedures adopted by the Commission following receipt of a written complaint filed against the member. The Council shall provide the member with a hearing, if requested.
(3) Members of the Commission may be compensated on a per diem basis, based upon meetings actually attended and reasonable and necessary expenses, as determined by the Council.
(4) All members of the Commission, including the alternate member, shall serve a term of five years. No member shall serve more than two consecutive full terms. If any member begins serving his or her term and then resigns, or is unable to complete his or her term, a replacement shall be appointed. The service of a replacement member during the remainder of an unexpired term shall not constitute a full term. Consequently, a replacement member may serve the remainder of a former member’s term and then be eligible to also serve two consecutive full terms, if so appointed.
(5) At an annual organizational meeting to be held the first regular meeting in January, and at other times as required, the members of the Commission shall elect one of their members as Chair and one of their members as Vice-Chair. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall act as Chair and shall have all powers of the Chair. The Chair shall serve a term of two years. No member shall serve as Chair for more than two consecutive terms.
(6) The Chair, or in the Chair’s absence the Vice-Chair, shall be in charge of all proceedings before the Commission, and shall take such actions as necessary to preserve order and the integrity of all proceedings before the Commission.
(D) Recording Secretary. The Council shall appoint a Recording Secretary to serve the Commission. The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all proceedings of the Commission, which minutes shall be the official record of all proceedings before the Commission, attested to by a majority vote of the members of the Commission. The Recording Secretary shall be compensated as approved by the Council.
(E) Quorum and necessary vote. No meeting of the Commission may be called to order, nor may any business be transacted without a quorum consisting of at least three members of the Commission being present. The Chair and the alternate member shall be included for purposes of establishing a quorum and shall act as a voting member of the Commission. The alternate member shall attend the meetings and, in the event of any absence of any regular member at a meeting, the alternate shall assume a regular member place on the Commission and shall vote in that place at that meeting. In the event that all five regular members are in attendance, the alternate shall sit in on the meeting and have a voice, but shall not have a vote. All actions of the Commission shall require a roll call vote of the Commissions duly seated at a meeting with a majority of said members voting in the affirmative.
(F) Meetings, hearings and procedure.
(1) The Commission shall establish a regular meeting schedule.
(2) Special meetings may be requested by the Council, the Chair of the Commission or a majority of the members of the Commission.
(3) If a matter is postponed due to lack of a quorum, the Chair shall reschedule the matter to the next available Commission meeting. The Recording Secretary shall notify all interested parties and all members of the Commission of the date when the rescheduled matter will be heard by the Commission.
(G) Effective date of decisions. All decisions of the Commission shall become effective on the date of the meeting when the decision is made unless a different date is designated in the rules of the Commission, or the Commission designates a different date when the decision is made.
(H) Commission members volunteers. Members of the Commission shall be deemed “volunteers” for the purposes of town ordinances, rules, regulations, and policies concerning personnel; provided, however, Commission members shall be included in the definition of “employee” for the purposes of the state’s Governmental Immunity Act.
(Ord. 46, passed 8-28-2001; Ord. 21D, passed 1-7-2004; Ord. 59, passed 5-8-2008, § 303; Ord. 2017-01, passed 3-2-2017; Ord. 2018-5, passed 12-6-2018)