(A) Created; composition; appointment; terms; compensation.
(1) There is hereby created a Planning and Zoning Commission of the town. Said Commission shall be composed of five members, all of whom shall be residents of the town, nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Trustees. The Mayor and Town Administrator shall be ex officio members of the Commission. Each appointed member shall hold office for a period of three years or until his or her successor takes office. The appointed members of the Commission shall be nominated and appointed solely with reference to their fitness and without reference to party affiliation and shall serve without compensation.
(2) Ex officio members shall receive no compensation for their work on the Planning and Zoning Commission other than the fixed salary of their office.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-1)
(B) Removals and vacancies. Members may be removed by the Mayor or the Board of Trustees only for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malefaction in office. Vacancies occurring otherwise than through the expiration of term shall be filled only for the unexpired term by the Mayor, with confirmation by the Board of Trustees.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-2)
(C) Organization.
(1) Officers. The Commission shall elect a Chair, a Vice Chair and a Secretary, and may create and fill such other offices as it may deem necessary. The term of the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary shall be one year with eligibility for reelection.
(2) Meetings. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold at least one regular meeting each month.
(3) Rules and records. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall adopt rules for the transaction of business and shall keep a record of its regulations, transactions, findings and determinations, which record shall be a public record.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-3)
(D) Quorum. Three members of the Planning and Zoning Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; provided, however, that, no action shall be taken which is binding upon said Planning and Zoning Commission unless concurred by not less than a majority of all members comprising the Planning and Zoning Commission.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-4)
(E) Powers and duties generally; Comprehensive Plan.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the power and the duty to prepare and recommend to the Board of Trustees for adoption a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the town.
(2) In conducting its work, the Planning and Zoning Commission may consider and investigate any subject matter tending to the development and betterment of the town and may make recommendations as it may deem advisable concerning the adoption thereof to the Board of Trustees.
(3) The Planning and Zoning Commission may make or cause to be made surveys, studies, maps and plans in the conduct of its activities. Before final action is taken by the Board of Trustees on the location or design of any public building, statue, memorial, park, parkway, boulevard, street and alley, playground, public grounds, bridge or change in any location or grade of any street or alley, such question shall be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for investigation and report.
(4) In the preparation of the comprehensive plan, the Planning and Zoning Commission may, from time to time, prepare and recommend to the Board of Trustees for adoption a part or parts thereof, which parts shall cover one or more major geographical divisions of the town or one or more major elements of the Comprehensive Plan.
(5) The Planning and Zoning Commission may, from time to time, recommend extending, amending or changing any portion of the Comprehensive Plan.
(6) In the preparation of the plan, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall make careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of present conditions and future growth of the town and with due regard to its relation to neighboring territory. The plan shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the town and its environs which will, in accordance with present and future needs, best promote health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity and general welfare, as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development, including, among other things, adequate provisions for traffic, the promotion of safety from fire and other dangers, adequate provision for light and air, the promotion of healthful and convenient distribution of population, the promotion of good civic design and arrangement and wise and efficient expenditure of public funds.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-5)
(F) Subdivision of land.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Commission may prepare and recommend to the Board of Trustees for adoption rules and regulations governing the subdivision of land within the corporate limits of the town.
(2) All plans, plats or replats of land laid out in two or more lots, plats or parcels or streets, alleys or other ways intended to be dedicated to public use within the corporate limits of the town shall first be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for its recommendations.
(3) The Planning and Zoning Commission shall, with the help of appropriate town officials, check the proposed dedications or subdivision of land to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations governing subdivision of land and with other elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the town.
(4) The disapproval of any such plan, plat or replat by the Board of Trustees shall be deemed a refusal of the dedications shown thereon.
(5) No plat or replat of subdivision of land or dedication of street or alley or other easement shall be entitled to record unless it bears the signature of the Mayor, attested by the town’s Clerk- Treasurer, certifying the approval and acceptance thereof by the Board of Trustees.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-6)
(G) Zoning regulations.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the power to prepare and to recommend to the Board of Trustees, for adoption, a zoning plan to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of a lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts and other open spaces, the density of population and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residences and other purposes.
(2) The Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend the division of the town into districts of such number, size and area as may be deemed best suited to carry out the zoning plan. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts.
(3) Zoning regulations shall be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan and designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provisions of transportation, water, sewage, schools, parks and other public requirements. Such regulations shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, as to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, and with a view to conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the town.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-7)
(H) Employment of staff. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the power and authority to employ planners, engineers, attorneys, clerks and other help deemed necessary within the limits of the appropriation fixed by the Board of Trustees. The salary and compensation shall be fixed by the town’s Board of Trustees and shall be paid out of the town treasury as is the compensation of other town officers and employees within the limits of its appropriation to carry out its purposes and responsibility.
(Prior Code, § 2-1-8)