(A) The City Commission shall appoint a Planning and Zoning Board consisting of five qualified electors of the city. The members of this Board shall come from diverse vocational backgrounds. The members shall serve a term of three years commencing on the first day of January. In addition, the City Commission may appoint one qualified elector of the city to serve as an alternate member, designating them as such. The alternate member shall only vote in the temporary absence or disability of any regular member or vote when a regular member is otherwise disqualified in a particular case that may be presented to the Board. The term of service of the alternate member shall expire December 31, 2001. Thereafter, the term shall be for three years.
(B) Members of the Board shall serve for overlapping terms of three years or thereafter until their successors are appointed. Not more than a minority of the terms of the members shall expire in any one year.
(C) Terms of service for Board members shall commence on the first day of January.
(D) The term of any member of the Board of Adjustment shall automatically terminate, without any action by the City Commission, at such time as the member shall be absent for three consecutive meetings, regardless of the reason for the absences.
(E) No board of the city, the City Commission or City Manager shall have the authority to excuse any absence of any member of any board from a meeting and any such action shall be null and void and without any force and effect.
(F) At such time as any member of the Board of Adjustment shall be absent for three consecutive meetings, the City Clerk shall advise the member that his or her term has automatically terminated due to the absences and also advise the City Commission of the same. The City Commission shall forthwith appoint a successor to complete the term of the member so terminated.
(G) The automatic removal of a member for reason of absence shall not preclude the reappointment of that member to the vacancy created by the automatic removal and shall not disqualify that member from future service on any board of the city. If the member desires to be reappointed to complete his or her term, he or she shall provide circumstances for missing the meetings, which the City Commission will consider in addition to the member's attendance record for the prior one-year period. However, if the Board member is removed for reason of absence for a second time within a two-year period, the Board member shall not be reappointed and shall not be eligible to serve on any advisory board for one year from the date of the last missed meeting.
(H) Notwithstanding any term of service established by ordinance for members of the Board of Adjustment, each member shall serve at the discretion of the City Commission and may be removed at any time prior to the expiration of their term of service, without cause, upon the motion of any City Commissioner, provided that the motion shall be approved by a majority vote of the Commission.
(I) A member removed under the provisions of division (H) hereof shall not be eligible for reappointment to fill the vacancy created by the member's removal. Further, the member shall be disqualified from serving on any board until the term of service for the position from which the member was removed pursuant to division (H) hereof has expired.
(Ord. 142, passed 11-19-81; Am. Ord. 200, passed 9-13-84; Am. Ord. 634, passed 2-18-93; Am. Ord. 676, passed 12-2-93; Am. Ord. 917, passed 3-4-99; Am. Ord. 1118, passed 1-22-04)
Cross-reference:
Zoning code, see § 154.25