EDITOR'S NOTE: There are no sections in Chapter 159. This chapter has been established to provide a place for cross references, future legislation and the Commission's Rules and Regulations.
CROSS REFERENCES
Establishment - see CHTR. Art. V, §1
Organization - see CHTR. Art. VI, §1
Terms of office - see CHTR. Art. VI, §1
Vacancies - see CHTR. Art. VI, §1
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following Rules and Regulations were adopted by the Planning Commission on September 10, 1970. Their inclusion in these Codified Ordinances is for the convenience of the public and is in no way intended to indicate that they were enacted by Council.)
1. Meetings of the Commission shall be in the Willoughby Municipal Building on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.
2. A majority of the members of the Commission (three) shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting. In the absence of a quorum, the minority present may adjourn to the next regular meeting or direct the Secretary to call a special meeting.
3. Special meetings may be called by the Secretary at the request of the Chairman or three other members of the Commission. All notices for a special meeting of the Commission shall be in writing and delivered to the usual place of residence of each member of the Commission at least twenty-four hours prior to the time of such special meeting. Such notice shall state the matter or subjects to be considered at such meeting.
4. A Chairman of the Commission shall be elected annually from among the appointed members by a majority vote of the full membership of the Commission. Such election shall be held at the first regularly scheduled meeting in January of each year.
5. The duties of the Chairman shall be as follows:
(a) Preside at all meetings of the Commission.
(b) Sign all official decisions, rulings and reports on behalf of the Commission.
(c) Appoint all committees.
(d) Perform all other duties as may be necessary or incident to his office in order to secure the successful functioning of the Commission.
6. A Vice-Chairman shall be elected annually from among the appointed members by a majority vote of the full membership of the Commission. Such election shall be held concurrently with the election of the Chairman at the first regularly scheduled meeting in January of each year.
7. The duties of the Vice-Chairman shall be as follows:
(a) Perform the duties of the Chairman in the absence or disability of that officer.
(b) Upon the permanent absence of the Chairman, as determined by the Commission, the Vice-Chairman shall serve out the unexpired term of the Chairman.
8. The Secretary of the Commission shall be appointed annually by a majority vote of the full membership of the Commission. The duties of the Secretary of the Commission are as follows:
(a) Serve notice by mail to a petitioner and all other property owners who are required by law, or whom the Commission directs to be so served, of the time and place of public hearings; submit a certificate signed by the Secretary showing names and addresses of the parties so served in each case; and have such legal notice published in the local newspaper.
(b) Keep minutes of the Commission's meetings; and keep a record of the decisions rendered by the Commission in the form of motions, resolutions, orders or decisions.
(c) Transmit a copy of the minutes, recording all motions, resolutions, orders and decisions to the Building and Zoning Inspector, the Clerk of Council and all members of the Commission.
(d) Transmit a copy of each motion, resolution, order or decision to the petitioner (applicant).
(e) Conduct all official correspondence. Maintain a permanent record of the attendance and proceedings of the Commission, showing its action and vote on each issue.
(g) At the end of each calendar year make an annual report of the work of the Commission.
(h) Sign all minutes of the Commission.
(i) Perform such other duties as may be necessary for an expeditious disposition of issues before the Commission.
(j) To be placed on the agenda, all requests must be filed with the Secretary seven days prior to the meeting.
9. All public hearings will be called by the Commission, the Secretary of the Commission giving notice by mail of the hearing to all directly interested parties, as well as public notice in a local newspaper. Such notices shall be given as prescribed in the Zoning Code.
(a) Prior to such public notice, the petition shall be read at a meeting of the Commission.
(b) Such public hearing shall start on the day of and prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission. The Chairman shall explain the rules and regulations governing such hearings prior to the first hearing.
(Amended 2-10-94.)
(c) The length of speaking time at such public hearing is not to exceed three minutes for each party or property owner. However, any group of property owners may designate one individual to speak on their behalf, in which case such individual shall be permitted to speak for such period of time as shall equal three minutes multiplied by the number of parties represented by the speaker, but in no event shall such period of time exceed fifteen minutes.
(d) Once a specific issue has been fully heard and decided, with all interested parties having had proper notice of such prior public hearing in which the issue was fully heard, the Chairman of the Commission has the right to refuse and terminate any discussion concerning the same issue at a subsequent public hearing or meeting of the Commission.
(e) The Chairman also has the power to confine a speaker to factual and relevant matters of a proposal and has the power to rule a speaker out of order when, at the discretion of the Chairman, the speaker cannot produce factual and relevant information concerning the issue being heard.
(f) The Commission is not required to give a decision concerning an issue on the same date as the public hearing and may decide on the action the Commission will take at the next meeting of the Commission, but in accordance with the Zoning Code.
10. The order of business in meetings of the Commission shall be as follows:
(a) Minutes of the previous meeting;
(b) Correspondence;
(c) Unfinished business;
(d) New business;
(e) Adjournment.
11. No member of the Commission shall pass or vote upon any question before the Commission in which he has either a direct or indirect interest in the result.
12. Each member shall, to the best of his ability, personally visit the area under consideration prior to a decision by the Commission.
13. All motions shall be made in the affirmative and the initiator need not vote in the affirmative.
14. A decision of the Commission must receive a vote of the majority of its full membership by a roll call vote.
15. These Rules and Regulations or any portion of them may be amended or supplemented by a two-thirds majority vote (four) of the full membership of the Commission at any regular meeting, provided that a copy of the proposed amendment has been received by the members of the Commission ten days in advance of the meeting.
16. The suspension of any of the aforementioned rules and regulations requires a four-fifths majority of the full membership of the Commission.
17. Any procedural matter not governed or any question of order not resolved by these rules, other ordinances or the City Charter shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, as revised.