3.3.1 Establishment, membership, and procedures.
A. Establishment. The Planning Board is established by ordinance of the town (the Charter). As stated in that ordinance and hereby reaffirmed, the Planning Board is that planning agency designated by G.S. § 160D-301.
B. Membership.
1. The Planning Board shall be composed of five regular voting members and two alternate members appointed by the Town Council. The alternate members shall exercise all the powers and duties of a regular member when substituting for a regular member.
2. Terms of regular and alternate members shall be three years. In the first year, three members and one alternate shall be appointed for a term of one year with two members and one alternate appointed for a term of two years so that the terms of office of all members shall not expire at the same time. In the second year, three members and one alternate shall be appointed for a period of three years. In the third year, two members and one alternate shall be appointed for a term of three years. Thereafter, all appointments shall be for a term of three years.
C. Procedures. The Planning Board shall adopt rules governing its organization and for all proceedings before it. Such rules shall provide and require the following in addition to such other rules and regulations that the Board may adopt.
1. The Town Council shall appoint a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman from among the members of the Planning Board. Both persons shall serve for a term of one year. Either person may be reappointed to the position. The Town Council shall appoint a Secretary to assist the Board. The Board’s operating year shall be January 1 through December 31.
2. The Secretary shall keep minutes of the proceedings. The minutes shall contain relevant facts and testimony, the vote of each member, abstention from voting, and attendance. The minutes shall be filed with the Town Clerk as a public record.
D. Voting. Any matter requiring a vote by the Planning Board shall also be conducted according to the provisions of G.S. § 160D-109(b) where the outcome of the matter being considered is reasonably likely to have a direct, substantial, and readily identifiable financial impact on the member. A Planning Board member shall not vote on any zoning amendment if the landowner of the property subject to a rezoning petition or the applicant for a text amendment is a person with whom the member has a close familial, business, or other associational relationship.
3.3.2 Powers and duties. The Planning Board shall have the powers and duties prescribed by the North Carolina General Statutes and the town’s ordinances. Those duties related to this ordinance include, but are not limited to, the following.
A. Review and recommendation. The Planning Board shall review and make a written recommendation on the following development review procedures:
1. Zoning ordinance - Text Amendments (Article 4.2);
2. Zoning map amendment - All Zoning Districts (Article 4.3);
3. Zoning map amendment - Planned Unit Development (Article 4.4); and
4. Any other review requested by the decision authority.
B. Final action. The Planning Board shall hear and take final action on the following development review procedures:
1. Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat (Articles 4.6.9, 4.11);
2. Major Subdivision Final Plat (Article 4.6.10);
3. Major Site Plans (Articles 4.7, 4.11); and
4. Transportation Impact Assessment (Article 4.11).
(Ord. passed 2-3-2021)