The Town Planning Board of the Town of Lewisville is hereby created, in accordance with the following provisions.
A. Membership and vacancies.
1. From and after July 1,2004, the Planning Board shall consist of 7 members. From the period beginning on July 1, 2003, until June 30, 2004, the Planning Board shall consist of 5 members with an additional 2 members who shall serve as ex-officio members. The ex-officio members shall have no voting authority and shall not be treated as Planning Board members for the purpose of determining the outcome of votes, the presence of a quorum, or any other purpose. Except for the 2 ex-officio members prior to July 1, 2004, who shall be residents of the Vienna annexation area, all members of the Planning Board shall be citizens and residents of the Town of Lewisville and shall be appointed by the Town Council. Members will be appointed for terms of 3 years, except for the first appointment of the 2 new members of the Planning Board when the size of the Planning Board is increased to 7 on July 1, 2004. The terms of these 2 new members shall be for the following periods: 1 of the new members will serve from July 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006, and the other new member will serve from July 1, 2004, to December 31, 2007. Vacancies occurring for reasons other than expiration of terms shall be filled as they occur for the period of the unexpired term.
2. Commencing with terms expiring in December, 2005, upon the expiration of the term of a Planning Board member, such Planning Board member shall be limited to a maximum of 3 consecutive terms from and after December, 2005, and shall be ineligible for reappointment to the Planning Board for a period of 3 years thereafter; provided, however, if, at the end of the term of a Planning Board member who is not eligible for reappointment due to the limit on consecutive terms, no different replacement applies for the position or obtains the required vote to be elected to the position, then such a member may be appointed for 1 additional term. In 2006, Council determined that the terms should end on March 31 rather than December 31, and extended all terms of then serving members from the date their terms would have expired to the next occurring March 31. New terms shall commence on April 1.
3. Members may be removed by the Town Council.
B. Organization, rules, meetings, and records. At the first scheduled meeting following April 1, or based on the Board's meeting schedule, the first scheduled meeting following appointments made at the March Council meeting, whichever comes first, the Planning Board shall meet and elect a Chair, Vice-Chair and create and fill such offices as it may determine. The term of the Chair, Vice-Chair and other officers shall be 1 year, with eligibility for reelection. The Board shall adopt rules of attendance of its members and for transaction of its business and shall keep records of its members' attendance and of its resolutions, discussions, findings, and recommendations, which shall be public records. The Board shall hold at least 1 meeting monthly, and all of its meetings shall be open to the public. There shall be a quorum of 4 members for the purpose of taking any official action.
C. General powers 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 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 trends;
3. To determine objectives to be sought in development of the area;
4. To establish principles and policies for guiding action in development of the area;
5. To prepare and recommend to the Town Council and from time to time, recommend amendments and revisions to a comprehensive and coordinated plan for the physical, social, and economic development of the area;
6. To prepare and recommend to the Town Council ordinances promoting orderly development along lines indicated in the comprehensive plan and advise it 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 Town Council 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 town 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 Planning Board shall prepare and submit to the Town Council for its consideration and possible adoption, a comprehensive plan, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts, and descriptive matter, showing the Planning Board's recommendations to the Town Council for the development of said 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. The Planning Board shall use as its basis the plan previously informally adopted by the Town Council.
2. The plan and any ordinances or other measures to effectuate it recommended by the Planning Board shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted, and harmonious development of the town and its environs 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 provision for traffic, 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 Town Council for its consideration and possible adoption, regulations controlling the subdivision of land in accordance with the provisions of G.S. Chapter 160A, Part 2, Article 19 as amended. It shall review, from time to time, the effectiveness of such regulations and may make proposals to the Town Council for amendment or the 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 make recommendations to the Town Council concerning such plats.
G. Zoning Ordinance.
1. The Planning Board shall prepare and submit to the Town Council for its consideration and possible adoption a zoning ordinance in accordance with the provisions of G.S. Chapter 160A, Part 3, Article 19, as amended.
2. The Planning Board may initiate, from time to time, proposals for amendment of the zoning ordinance, based upon its studies and comprehensive plan. In addition, it shall review and make recommendations to the Town Council concerning all proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance.
H. Public facilities. The Planning Board shall review with the Town Manager and other town officials and report its recommendations to the Town Council concerning the location, extent, and design of all proposed public structures and facilities; the acquisition and disposition of public properties; and the establishment of building lines, mapped street lines, and proposals to change existing street lines. The Board shall include transportation planning in its purview. It shall also make recommendations concerning other matters referred to it by the Town Council.
I. Economic development. The Planning Board may prepare and amend from time to time an economic development program for submission to the Town Council, as authorized by state law.
J. Miscellaneous powers and duties.
1. The Planning Board may conduct such public hearings as may be required to gather information for the maintenance of the comprehensive plan. Before proposing any changes to such plan to the Town Council, it shall hold at least 1 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. Members or employees of the Planning Board, when duly authorized by the Board, may attend planning conferences, meetings of planning associations, or hearings on pending planning legislation, and the Planning Board may authorize payment in accordance with town policy and within the Planning Board's budget.
K. Report. The Planning Board shall, in July of each year, submit in writing to the Town Council, a report of its activities and an analysis of its expenditures to date for the previous fiscal year and any other reports upon request by Council.
L. Funding.
1. The Board shall submit an annual budget request to the Town Manager by February 28 of each year.
2. The Board's budget shall include:
a. The costs of items and/or contracts required to implement anticipated Board recommended projects.
b. The costs of items and/or contracts required to sustain previous contracts and project.
c. Expenditures must follow the town financial procedures.
d. Expenditures must be approved in meetings and reflected in meeting minutes.
M. Advisory Council and special committees.
1. The Planning Board may establish an unofficial Advisory Council and may cooperate with that Council to the end that its investigations and plans may receive full consideration, but the Board may not delegate to such Advisory Council any of its official powers and duties.
2. The Planning Board may from time to time establish special committees to assist it in studying specific questions and problems.
(Ord. 2003011, passed 06-12-2003; Am. Ord. 2014051, passed 10-09-2014; Am. Ord. 2015019, passed 02-12-2015; Am. Ord. 2016005, passed 3-10-2016; Am. Ord. 2018023, passed 3-8-2018)