(a) PURPOSE. The City Council may create a Planning Commission in order to promote the orderly development of its governmental units and its environs. The Planning Commission shall serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council so that certain regulatory powers be created over developments affecting the public welfare and not now otherwise controlled. The Planning Commission shall have as its objective the improvement of the present health, safety, convenience and welfare of Wheeling citizens and to plan for the future development of the city to the end that highway systems be carefully planned; that new community centers grow only with adequate highway, utility, health, educational and recreational facilities; that the needs of agriculture, industry and business be recognized in future growth; that residential areas provide healthy surroundings for family life; and that the growth of the community promotes and is commensurate with the efficient and economical use of public funds.
(b) POWERS AND DUTIES.
(1) Prepare and adopt, from time to time, a Comprehensive Plan of the City of Wheeling.
(2) Administer Chapter Three, Zoning Ordinance. Specifically, review and approve site plan applications, and special use permit applications.
(3) Administer Chapter One, Subdivision Regulations. Specifically, review and approve proposed subdivision plats before each may be recorded by the City Clerk. The Planning Commission is responsible for those duties related to application approval, notice and hearing, and application fees relating to Subdivision Control, as outlined in West Virginia State Code, Article 24. Planning and Zoning. Part V. Subdivision Control. §8-24-28. through §8- 24-35.
(4) Exercise general supervision and make rules and regulations for the administration of the Commission’s affairs.
(5) Prescribe uniform rules and regulations pertaining to its investigations and hearings.
(6) Supervise the fiscal affairs and responsibilities of the Commission.
(7) Prescribe the qualifications, appoint, and determine the compensation of the Commission’s employees. Such compensation shall conform and comply with the salaries and compensation fixed by the City Council.
(8) Delegate authority to employees to perform administrative tasks except where the final action of the Commission is necessary.
(9) Keep an accurate and complete record of all departmental proceedings, record and file all bonds and contracts, and assume responsibility for the custody and preservation of all Commission papers and documents.
(10) Make recommendations and an annual report to the City’s governing body regarding the operation of the Commission and the status of planning within its jurisdiction.
(11) Prepare, publish and distribute reports, ordinances and other material relating to the activities authorized under this article.
(12) Adopt a seal and certify all official acts.
(13) Invoke any legal, equitable or special remedy for enforcing the provisions of this article or any ordinance, rule and regulation, or action taken there under.
(14) Prepare and submit an annual budget. The Commission shall be limited in all expenditures to the provisions made by the City Council.
(15) Establish an advisory committee.
(16) Hold public hearings on applications before the Commission and delegate the power for the Commission to hold public hearings to a committee composed of two or more Commission members. If the hearing is held by a committee, a written record shall be made and preserved with the permanent records of the Commission. The committee shall have the authority only to conduct the hearing and report to the Commission.
(17) Except as limited in this article, the Planning Commission shall have all of the duties and powers as are granted to City Planning Commissions under the terms of West Virginia Code Article 8-24 as fully and as to the same extent as if the powers and duties were fully set out in this article.
(c) ELIGIBILITY, MEMBERSHIP, AND COMPENSATION.
(1) The Planning Commission shall consist of nine members.
(2) Members shall be residents of the city who are qualified by knowledge and experience in matters pertaining to the development of the city, and shall include representatives of business, industry, and labor.
(3) All members shall be nominated by the City Manager and confirmed by Council.
(4) Three-fifths of all members shall have been residents of the city for at least three years prior to nomination.
(5) One member of the Commission shall be a member of the City Council and one member shall be a member of the City’s administrative department, but shall not be the City Manager.
(6) Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their official duties.
(7) An individual may at the same time serve as a member of the Planning Commission and as a member of a county planning commission.
(d) TERMS OF MEMBERS.
(1) The terms of the two members who are respectively a member of City Council and a member of the City’s administrative department shall be coextensive with the term of office to which they have been elected or appointed, unless the City Manager and Council at the first regular meeting of each fiscal year appoint others to serve as the representatives.
(2) The remaining members first appointed shall serve respectively for terms of one year, two years and three years, divided equally or as nearly equal as possible between these terms. Thereafter, members shall be appointed for terms of three years each.
(3) Vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term only, in the same manner as original selections are made.
(4) Removal. The City Manager may remove a member of the Planning Commission, with the approval of Council, during his or her term of office but only upon stating in writing the reasons for removal and after allowing the member an opportunity to be heard by Council in his or her own defense.
(e) ADVISORY MEMBERS. All advisory members shall have the privileges of membership except the right to vote. A designated representative of the City Planning Commission can be an advisory member to the County Planning Commission, if such commission exists.
(f) MEETINGS.
(1) Regular meetings. The Commission shall fix the time for holding regular meetings, but it shall meet at least once in the months of January, April, July and October.
(2) Special meetings. Special meetings may be called by the chairperson or by at least two members upon written request to the secretary. The secretary shall send a written notice fixing the date to all the members at least two days in advance of the special meeting. Written notice is not required if the date, time and place of the special meeting have been fixed at a regular meeting.
(3) Quorum. In order to conduct a commission meeting, a quorum of the members must be present. A majority of the Commission members shall constitute a quorum. No action of the Commission shall be official unless authorized by a majority of the members present at a regular or properly called special meeting.
(g) OFFICES. The City Council shall provide the Commission with suitable offices for holding meetings and the storage of plans, maps, documents and accounts, and shall appropriate a sum sufficient to defray the reasonable expenses of the Commission.
(h) ELECTION OF OFFICERS; DUTIES OF CHAIRPERSON.
(1) The Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from its members at its first regular meeting each year. The vice-chairperson shall have the power and authority to act as chairperson of the Commission during the absence or disability of the chairperson.
(2) All meetings of the Planning Commission shall be held at the call of the chairperson and at such other times as such board may determine. Such chairperson, or in his or her absence the acting chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. The chairperson, or acting chairperson, shall be eligible to vote on Planning Commission matters.
(i) SECRETARY AND EMPLOYEES, TEMPORARY SERVICES, AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE
(1) The City Manager may appoint such employees as are necessary for the discharge of the duties and responsibilities of the Commission. All compensation to employees of the Commission shall be in conformity to and in compliance with the salaries and compensation theretofore fixed by the City Council. All employees of the Commission shall be subject to the administrative powers of the City Manager as prescribed in Section 123.02 of the Administrative Code.
(2) The Commission, with approval of the City Manager, may make contracts for special or temporary services or any professional counsel. The City Solicitor, upon request, shall render legal assistance and service to the City Planning Commission.
(j) APPROPRIATIONS, EXPENDITURES, GIFTS, FEDERAL PLANNING, AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
(1) The City Council shall appropriate funds to enable the Planning Commission to carry out its duties.
(2) The Planning Commission shall have the power and authority to expend all sums appropriated to it for the purposes and activities authorized under this article and under regular City law.
(3) The City may accept gifts and donations for Planning Commission purposes. Any monies accepted shall be deposited with the City in a special non-reverting Planning Commission fund to be available for expenditures for the purpose designated by the donor. The City disbursing officer shall draw warrants against such a special non-reverting fund only when vouchers are signed by the president and secretary of the Planning Commission.
(4) The Planning Commission is empowered and authorized to spend funds made available for the purposes of this article, and to accept and use funds provided for the purposes of this article by the government of the United States and any other agency or group whose interests are in harmony with such purposes, in accordance with federal requirements and subject to conditions or limitations which the constitution or state law may provide. The Planning Commission is hereby expressly authorized to participate in the federal planning assistance programs as set forth in the “Federal Housing Act of 1954,” as amended, and any subsequent acts.
(k) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. The Planning Commission shall make and recommend a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the territory within its jurisdiction for adoption by the City Council. The Planning Commission is responsible for those duties related to the development, publishing, notice, adoption, presentation, publication, and amendment of the Comprehensive Plan, as outlined in West Virginia State Code, Article 24. Planning and Zoning. Part IV. Comprehensive Plan. §8-24-16. through §8-24-26.
(l) COOPERATION BETWEEN PLANNING COMMISSIONS, GOVERNING AND ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES, AND OFFICIALS.
(1) The City Planning Commission may cooperate with the Planning Commissions or governing and administrative bodies and officials of other municipalities within a county and other counties to coordinate and integrate the planning and zoning of a municipality or county with the plans of a municipality and other counties.
(2) The Commission may appoint a committee or committees and may adopt rules and regulations thought proper to effect such cooperation. Such Planning Commissions, governing and administrative bodies, and officials of other municipalities and counties are hereby authorized to cooperate with such municipal or county Planning Commissions for the purposes of such coordination and integration.
(3) Similarly, such municipal or county Planning Commissions may cooperate with the division of environmental protection of West Virginia. The commissions can use the advice and information furnished by the division and by other appropriate state and federal officials, departments and agencies, and all state departments and agencies which have information, maps and data pertinent to the planning and zoning of such a municipality or county.