(A) The Planning Commission is an advisory board to the Council.
(B) The functions, powers, and duties of the Commission shall be, in general:
(1) To acquire and maintain in current form basic information and background data as is necessary to an understanding of past trends, present conditions, and forces at work to cause changes in these conditions;
(2) To prepare and keep current a Comprehensive Plan for meeting present requirements and future needs as may be foreseen;
(3) To establish principles and policies for guiding action affecting development and redevelopment in the city and its environs;
(4) To prepare and recommend to the Council ordinances, regulations, and other proposals promoting orderly development and redevelopment along lines indicated as desirable by the Comprehensive Plan;
(5) To determine whether specific proposed developments and redevelopments conform to the principles and requirements for the Comprehensive Plan and ordinances;
(6) To keep the Council and general public informed and advised as to all planning and development and redevelopment matters;
(7) To conduct public hearings as may be required to gather information necessary for the drafting, establishment, and maintenance of the Comprehensive Plan and ordinances and regulations related to it, and to establish public committees for the purpose of collecting and compiling information necessary for the Plan, or for the purpose of promoting the accomplishment of the Plan in whole or in part; and
(8) To perform other duties which may be lawfully assigned to it, or which may have bearing on the preparation or accomplishment of the Plan.
(1997 Code, § 12.06)