(A) Establishment; membership; compensation; general powers.
(1) The Legislative Authority may establish a commission of five members, consisting of the Mayor, one member of the Legislative Authority to be elected by the Legislative Authority for the remainder of his or her term as such member of the Legislative Authority, and three citizens of the municipality to be appointed by the Mayor for terms of six years each, except that the term of one of the members of the first Commission shall be for four years and one for two years. All such members shall serve without compensation.
(2) Whenever such a Commission is appointed, it shall have all the powers conferred in R.C. § 735.15.
(3) If and when the municipality adopts a Charter, and except as otherwise may be provided in that Charter, a Planning Commission created in the manner and by virtue of authority granted by such Charter shall have the powers of, and the plans made by it shall have the effect of, a planning commission or city plan created under R.C. §§ 713.01 through 713.15.
(4) Any member of a Planning Commission established under this section or by Charter, except as otherwise provided in such Charter, may hold any other public office and may serve as a member of a county planning commission and/or a regional planning commission.
(R.C. § 713.01)
(B) Specific powers and duties.
(1) The Planning Commission established under this section shall make plans and maps of the whole or any portion of the municipality, and of any land outside thereof, which, in the opinion of the Commission, is related to the planning of the municipality, and make changes in such plans or maps when it deems it advisable. Such maps or plans shall show the Commission’s recommendations for the general location, character and extent of streets, alleys, ways, viaducts, bridges, waterways, waterfronts, subways, boulevards, parkways, parks, playgrounds, aviation fields and other public grounds, ways and open spaces; the general location of public buildings and other public property; 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; and the removal, relocation, widening, narrowing, vacating, abandonment, change of use of or extension of such public ways, grounds, open spaces, buildings, property, utilities or terminals. With a view to the systematic planning of the municipality, the Commission may make recommendations to public officials concerning the general location, character and extent of any such public ways, grounds, open spaces, buildings, property, utilities or terminals. As the work of making the whole plan progresses, the Commission may from time to time adopt and publish any part thereof, and such part shall cover one or more major sections or divisions of the municipality or one or more of the functional matters to be included in the plan. The Commission may from time to time amend, extend or add to the plan. This section does not confer any powers on the Commission with respect to the construction, maintenance, use or enlargement of improvements by any public utility or railroad on its own property if such utility is owned or operated by an individual, partnership, association or a corporation for profit.
(2) The Planning Commission may accept, receive and expend funds, grants and services from the federal government or its agencies, from departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the state or any adjoining state or from one or more counties of the state or any adjoining state or from any municipal corporation or political subdivision of this or any adjoining state, including county, regional and municipal planning commissions of this or any adjoining state, or from civic sources, and contract with respect thereto, either separately or jointly or cooperatively, and provide such information and reports as may be necessary to secure such financial aid.
(3) The Commission may control, preserve and care for historical landmarks; control, in the manner provided by ordinance, the design and location of statuary and other works of art, which are the property of the municipality; control the removal, relocation and alteration of any such works; and control the design of harbors, bridges, viaducts, street fixtures and other public structures and appurtenances.
(4) Whenever the Commission makes a plan of the municipality, or any portion thereof, no public building or structure, street, boulevard, parkway, park, playground, public ground, canal, river front, harbor, dock, wharf, bridge, viaduct, tunnel or other public way, ground, works or utility, whether publicly or privately owned, or a part thereof, shall be constructed or authorized to be constructed in the municipality or a planned portion thereof unless the location, character and extent thereof is approved by the Commission. In case of disapproval, the Commission shall communicate its reasons therefor to the Legislative Authority and to the head of the department which has control of the construction of the proposed improvement or utility. The Legislative Authority, by a vote of not less than two-thirds of its members and of such department head, together may overrule such disapproval. If such public way, ground, works, building, structure or utility is one the authorization or financing of which does not, under the law or charter provisions governing it, fall within the province of the Legislative Authority or any other municipal body or official, the submission to the Commission shall be by the state, school, county, district or township official, board, commission or body having such jurisdiction, and the Commission’s disapproval may be overruled by such official, board, commission or body by a vote of not less than two-thirds of its membership. The narrowing, ornamentation, vacation or change in the use of streets and other public ways, grounds and places shall be subject to similar approval, and disapproval may be similarly overruled. The Commission may make recommendations to any public authorities or to any corporations or individuals in the municipality, or the territory contiguous thereto, concerning the location of any buildings, structures or works to be erected or constructed by them.
(R.C. § 713.02)
(C) Commission shall be Platting Commission. The Planning Commission of the municipality shall be the Platting Commission thereof, and all the powers and duties provided by R.C. §§ 735.17 through 735.26 shall, upon the appointment of a Planning Commission under this section, be transferred to it.
(R.C. § 713.03)
(D) Control of buildings. The Legislative Authority may authorize the Planning Commission to control the height, design and location of buildings.
(R.C. § 713.04)
(E) Employment of architects and engineers. The Planning Commission may control, appoint or employ such architects, engineers and other professional service, and may appoint such clerks, draftsmen and other subordinates as are necessary for the performance of its functions. The expenditures for such service and employments shall be within the amounts appropriated for such persons by the Legislative Authority, and the Legislative Authority shall provide for the expenses and accommodations necessary for the work of the Commission.
(R.C. § 713.05)
(F) Division of municipality into zones. The Planning Commission may frame and adopt a plan for dividing the municipality or any portion thereof into zones or districts, representing the recommendations of the Commission, in the interest of the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity or general welfare, for the limitation and regulation of the height, bulk and location of buildings and other structures, including percentage of lot occupancy, setback building lines, area and dimensions of yards, courts and other open spaces, and uses, of buildings and other structures and of premises in such zones or districts.
(R.C. § 713.06) (Rev. 2002)