(A) Created; authority; appointment. There is hereby created and established a Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall be an advisory body to the City Council on legislative matters pertaining to the general plan, and this chapter. Members of the Planning Commission shall be appointed by the Mayor, with advice and consent of the City Council.
(B) Powers and duties. The Planning Commission shall have the following powers and duties to:
(1) Prepare, or cause to be prepared, the proposed general plan, any proposed plan element, any amendments thereto, and to submit the proposed plan, element or amendments to the City Council;
(2) Prepare, or cause to be prepared, the proposed land use ordinance, any amendments thereto, and to submit the ordinance or amendments thereto to the City Council;
(3) Hear, review and recommend approval or denial of all applications for a general plan amendment, zoning ordinance text amendment or zoning districts map amendment (rezone);
(4) Hear, review and recommend approval, approval with conditions, or denial of a conditional use application, to the City Council;
(5) Hear, review and recommend approval or denial of subdivision applications to the City Council, as authorized by this chapter;
(6) Adopt bylaws, policies and procedures for the conduct of the duties and meetings of the Planning Commission, for the consideration of applications and for any other purposes deemed necessary by the Planning Commission; provided, that such bylaws, policies and procedures shall be consistent with all requirements of this chapter, which bylaws, policies and procedures shall first be approved by the City Council before taking effect;
(7) Advise the City Council on all other matters as the Council may direct; and
(8) Solicit the state property rights ombudsman to provide an advisory opinion on any land use application.
(C) Membership, appointment, removal, terms and vacancies.
(1) The Planning Commission shall consist of at least three members;
(2) The members of the Planning Commission shall be residents of the city;
(3) The Mayor, with advice and consent of the City Council, may remove any member of the Planning Commission for a violation of this chapter, or any policies or procedures adopted by the Planning Commission, following receipt of a written complaint from another Planning Commission member or City Council member filed against the Commission member;
(4) Members of the Planning Commission may be compensated on a per diem basis, based upon meetings actually attended and reasonable and necessary expenses, as determined by the City Council;
(5) All members of the Planning Commission shall serve a term of four years. No member shall serve more than three consecutive terms. Terms shall begin on the first Monday in February of each calendar year. Members’ terms are to be staggered so that not more than one term shall expire each year;
(6) At an annual organizational meeting to be held the first regular meeting in the new calendar year, and at other times as required, the members of the Planning Commission shall recommend one of their members as Chair and one of their members as Vice Chair to the City Council. The Chair and Vice Chair shall serve a term of one year. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall act as Chair and shall have all powers of the Chair; and
(7) Planning Commission vacancies occurring for any reason shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor with advice and consent of the City Council. Vacancies of the Planning Commission occurring in ways other than through the expiration of terms shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(D) Records maintained. The Mayor shall assign the City Recorder to act as the recording secretary to serve the Planning Commission. The recording secretary shall keep the minutes of all proceedings of the Planning Commission, which minutes shall be the official record of all proceedings before the Planning Commission. All such records shall be available for public review and access in accordance with the Government Records and Access Management Act, being UCA §§ 63G-2-101 et seq.
(E) Conduct of meetings. No meeting of the Planning Commission shall be called to order, nor may any business be transacted without a quorum consisting of three members of the Planning Commission being present. To ensure a quorum is present, the City Council liaison to the Planning Commission may be called by the Chair to assist the Planning Commission in having three members present by serving, for that meeting, as a voting ad hoc member of the Commission. The Planning Commission shall transmit reports of its recommendations and decisions to the City Council. Any member of the Planning Commission may also make a concurring or dissenting report or recommendation to the City Council.
(F) Meeting schedule, hearings and procedures.
(1) The Planning Commission shall establish a quarterly meeting schedule;
(2) Special meetings may be requested by a majority of the Planning Commission, or by the Chair; and
(3) When a matter is postponed due to lack of a quorum, the matter shall be rescheduled to the next available Planning Commission meeting. The recording secretary shall notify all members of the Planning Commission of the date when the rescheduled matter will be heard by the Planning Commission.
(Prior Code, § 10-2-3) (Ord. passed 8-10-2006)