There shall be a City Planning Commission of at least seven members as herein provided. The Mayor, the City Administrator, the Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Board during their tenure in their respective offices and four citizen members of the Planning Commission, who shall be qualified electors and residents of the City, and shall be appointed for terms of four (4) years each. The four citizen members of the Planning Commission appointed by the Mayor pursuant to this section shall be as follows: one member shall be appointed for a one (1) year term, one member shall be appointed for a two (2) year term, one member shall be appointed for a three (3) year term and one member shall be appointed for a four (4) year term, and thereafter, each citizen member shall be appointed for a four (4) year term and shall be continued in office until his or her successor is appointed. The citizen members of the Planning Commission shall not hold any other Municipal office or employment with the City.
Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. At the first meeting of the Planning Commission each year, the members thereof shall elect a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson by a majority vote of all members of the Commission. The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Commission and shall have the right to vote on any matter before the Commission. In the absence of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall act in his or her capacity with all rights and duties of the Chairperson. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall serve until their successors are elected as hereinabove provided.
Secretary. At the first meeting of the Planning Commission each year, the members thereof shall appoint a secretary, who may be a member of the Commission, a person holding other employment with the City or a person from without the employment of the City. The secretary, unless a member of the Commission, shall not have any voting rights. The compensation, if any, of the secretary of the Planning Commission shall be fixed by Council, except that a member of the Commission who is appointed secretary shall not receive any compensation.
Meetings and Organization. The Planning Commission shall hold at least one regular meeting in each month during the year. A majority of the members of the Planning Commission shall constitute a quorum. The secretary of the Commission shall keep an accurate journal of the proceedings and actions of the Planning Commission. By a majority vote of the members of the Planning Commission, rules may be adopted governing the conduct and government of meetings and providing for regular and special meetings in addition to the minimum number of meetings required herein.
Powers and Duties. The Planning Commission shall have the following duties:
A. HEAR AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:
1. Conduct studies and surveys and prepare reports and maps relative to the overall planning of the growth, development, redevelopment and renewal of the City, and may make such recommendations relative thereto to the Council as it feels are in the best interest of the City;
2. Continuously review and report to the Council its recommendations concerning the City's capital improvement programs and updates to subdivision, platting and zoning ordinances and regulations;
3. Cooperate with other governmental or private planning agencies to secure the maximum benefit to the City of the work, studies, surveys and reports of such other planning agencies; and
4. Interpret the zoning map in such a way as to carry out the intent and purpose of the Planning and Zoning Code of orderly, but permissive, land use.
B. HEAR AND DECIDE APPEALS: The Planning Commission shall hear appeals and grant exceptions to or overruling the determinations made by administrative officials or agencies in the application of resolutions, ordinances, regulations, measures and orders governing zoning and building in the City.
C. GRANT VARIANCES: The Planning Commission shall grant variances from such resolutions, ordinances, regulations, measures or orders as may be required to afford justice and avoid unreasonable hardship, subject to such procedures and reasonable standards as shall be established by Council. It shall include, but not be limited to, the existence of practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the strict interpretation of the aforesaid resolutions, ordinances, regulations, measures or orders, provided that the granting of such exception or variance will be in harmony with the general purpose and intent thereof.
D. OTHER DUTIES: Other powers and duties of the Planning Commission shall be established by the Council by ordinance, but until such ordinances shall be passed, it shall possess such other powers and duties as are provided by the general laws of Ohio, to the extent that such general laws do not conflict with the provisions of this Charter. (Amended November 5, 2019)