There is hereby established two Design Review Boards as established herein or by future action:
(a) Each Design Review Board shall consist of the required number of members as appointed by City Council, and shall serve without compensation. Except as indicated elsewhere in this section, all members shall be residents of the City. In appointing members, the City Council shall make good faith effort to appoint
persons with training in the fields of architecture, design, historic preservation, planning or related disciplines. Any one (1) individual may serve on more than one Board, provided other qualifications are met. City Council shall have the authority to appoint alternate members to any respective Board upon request of each Board, as may be determined appropriate by Council.
(b) All members shall be appointed to three (3) year terms, and such terms shall be staggered according to the following schedule:
(1) The first three (3) members shall be appointed to serve for an initial term of one (1) year.
(2) The fourth and fifth members shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years.
(3) The remaining members of the City of Galion Design Review Board shall be appointed for an initial term of three (3) years.
All terms shall begin on January 1 of the applicable year. Appointed members shall be subject to removal for cause by the Mayor. Vacancies for the remainder of an unexpired term shall be filled by the Mayor within sixty (60) days from the date of vacancy.
(c) Design Review Districts #1 and #2 (Uptowne and Historic West Main). The City of Galion Design Review Board shall consist of nine (9) voting members and shall have jurisdiction for granting Certificates of Appropriateness for Design Review Districts #1 and #2. At least two (2) of the members shall be owners of property within each of these Districts or owners of businesses located within these Districts or a designated representative of such business, and not more than two (2) members may be non-city resident owners of properties in either District. Five (5) members shall constitute a quorum, and a concurring majority vote of members present shall be necessary for official action. One member of the City of Galion Design Review Board shall be a current, sitting member of City Council, and one member of the same Board shall also be a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
At the time that this ordinance becomes effective, the nine (9) current members of the formerly existing Uptowne Design Review Board and the Historic West Main Design Review Boards shall automatically be considered members of the new City of Galion Design Review Board and shall continue through the remainder of the term to which each has previously been appointed.
(d) Design Review District #3 (Harding Way West). The Harding Way West Design Review Board shall consist of five (5) voting members. All of the members shall be owners of property within the District; however, in the event an insufficient number of property owners can be found to serve on the Board, City Council may appoint not more than two (2) members of this Board who are not owners of property, provided such candidates receive the unanimous recommendation of the remaining members of the Board. Council shall attempt to appoint at least three (3) members of this Board who are also residents of this designated District. Three (3) members shall constitute a quorum, and a concurring majority vote by members present shall be necessary for official action.
(e) Within the first three (3) months of each year, the City of Galion at its cost shall use its best efforts to provide training to the members of the Design Review Boards relating to their duties to be performed under this Chapter.
(Ord. 2018-5. Passed 3-13-18.)