The Planning Board of the county is hereby created, in accordance with the following provisions.
(A) Membership and vacancies. The Planning Board shall consist of nine members. All members shall be citizens and residents of the county and shall be appointed by the County Commissioners. Three of the initial members shall be appointed for a term of one year, three for two years, and three for three years. Vacancies occurring for reasons other than expiration of terms shall be filled as they occur for the period of the unexpired term. Members may be removed for cause by the County Commissioners.
(B) Organization, rules, meetings, and records. Within 30 days after appointment, the Planning Board shall meet and elect a chair and create and fill such offices as it may determine. The term of the chair and other officers shall be one year, with eligibility for re- election. The Board shall adopt rules for transaction of its business and shall keep a record of its members’ attendance and of its resolutions, discussions, findings, and recommendations, which shall be a public record. The Board shall hold at least one meeting monthly, and all of its meetings shall be open to the public. There shall be a quorum of five members for the purpose of taking an official action.
(C) General power and duties. It shall be the duty of the Planning Board, in general:
(1) To acquire and maintain in current form such 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;
(2) To identify needs and problems growing out of those needs;
(3) To determine objectives to be sought in development of area;
(4) To establish principles and policies for guiding action in development of the area;
(5) To prepare and from time to time amend and revise a comprehensive and coordinated plan for the physical, social, and economic development of the area;
(6) To prepare and recommend to the County Commissioners, ordinances promoting orderly development along lines indicated in the comprehensive plan and advise them concerning proposed amendments of such ordinances;
(7) To determine whether specific proposed developments conform to the principles and requirements of the comprehensive plan for the growth and improvement of the area and ordinances adopted in furtherance of such plan;
(8) To keep the County Commissioners and the general public informed and advised as to these matters; and
(9) To perform any other duties that may lawfully be assigned to it.
(D) Basic studies.
(1) As background for its comprehensive plan and any ordinances it may prepare, the Planning Board may gather maps and aerial photographs of physical features of the area; statistics on past trends and present conditions with respect to population, property values, the economic base of the area, and land use; and such other information as is important or likely to be important in determining the amount, direction and kind of development to be expected in the area and its various parts.
(2) In addition, the Planning Board may make, cause to be made, or obtain special studies on the location, the condition, and the adequacy of specific facilities, which may include, but are not limited to, studies of housing; commercial and industrial facilities; parks, playgrounds, and other recreational facilities, public and private utilities; and traffic, transportation, and parking facilities.
(3) All county officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Planning Board such 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.
(E) Comprehensive plan.
(1) The comprehensive plan, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts, and descriptive matter, shall be and show the Planning Board's recommendations to the County Commissioners 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; the removal, relocation, widening, narrowing, vacating, abandonment, change of use, or extension of any of the foregoing ways, building, grounds, open spaces property, utilities, or terminals; and the most desirable pattern of land use within the area, including areas for farming and forestry, for manufacturing and industrial uses, for commercial uses, for recreational uses, for open spaces, and for mixed uses.
(2) 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 county that 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 provisions for traffic, the promotion of safety from fire and other dangers, adequate provisions 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.
(F) Subdivision regulations.
(1) The Planning Board shall prepare and submit to the County Commissioners for their consideration and possible adoption regulations controlling the subdivision of land in accordance with the provisions of G.S. Ch. 153A, Art. 18, Part 2 as amended. It shall review, from time to time, the effectiveness of such regulations and may make proposals to the County Commissioners for amendment or other improvement of those regulations and their enforcement.
(2) In accordance with the provisions of any regulations that are adopted, the Planning Board may review subdivision plats that are submitted and (a) make recommendations to the County Commissioners concerning such plats, or (b) approve, subject to conditions, or deny approval for the plat.
(3) In addition to subdivision regulations, the Planning Board shall prepare and submit to the Board of Commissioners for possible adoption, regulations governing the design and operation of mobile home parks. It shall review, from time to time, all such regulations and make recommendations for amendments as may be necessary.
(G) Miscellaneous powers and duties.
(1) The Planning Board may conduct such public hearings as may be required to gather information for the drafting, establishment, and maintenance of the comprehensive plan. Before adopting any such plan, it shall hold at least one public hearing thereon.
(2) The Planning Board shall have power to promote public interest in and an understanding of its recommendations, and to that end it may publish and distribute copies of its recommendations and may employ such other means of publicity and education as it may elect.
(3) Member of employees of the Planning Board, when duly authorized by the Board, may attend planning conferences, meetings of planning associations, or hearings on pending planned legislation, and the Planning Board may authorize payment within the Board's budget of the reasonable traveling expenses incident to such attendance.
(H) Annual report and budget request.
(1) The Planning Board shall, in April of each year submit in writing to the County Commissioners a report of its activities, an analysis of its expenditures to date for the current fiscal year, and its requested budget of funds needed for operation during the ensuing fiscal year.
(2) The Planning Board is authorized to receive contributions from private agencies, organizations, and individuals, in addition to any funds that may be appropriated for its use by the County Commissioners. It may accept and disburse such contributions for special purposes or projects, subject to any specified conditions that it deems acceptable, whether or not such projects are included in the approved budget.
(I) Special committees. The Planning Board may from time to time establish special committees to assist it in studying specific questions and problems.
(J) Compensation. Members of the Planning Board shall be compensated at the rate of $30 per meeting attended, plus mileage reimbursement at the current level for county employees.
(Ord. passed 9-7-93)