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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3E - Planning Commission Bylaws DRAFT FOUR CENSUS '90 0" PLANNING COMMISSION PROCEDURES DECEMBER 18, 1989 SECTION 1 - CITY CODE CHAPTER 3: 2-3-l: COMMISSION CREATED, COMPOSITION: Commission is hereby created for to be of an advisory nature to staff. A Planning Advisory the City, its purpose the City Council and Said Planning Advisory Commission shall be composed of not less than three (3) nor more than five (5) members, appointed by the City Council. Only residents of the City shall be considered for appointment. Said members shall serve for two (2) year terms serving from July 1 to June 30, except, for the first term, two (2) members shall be appointed for one-year terms. The members of said Planning Advisory Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from the appointed members of their Board. 2-3-2: REMOVAL OF MEMBER: Any member of the Planning Commission may be removed from office for just cause and unwritten charges by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Council, but such member shall be entitled to a public hearing before such a vote is taken. In addition, any member may be removed for nonattendance at Planning Commission meetings without action by the City Council according to rules adopted by the Planning Commission. 2-3-3: MEETINGS, RULES: The Planning Advisory Commission will meet on the first and third Thursday of each month, or at such other time as may be deemed necessary, providing adequate notice is furnished of the public meeting. 2-3-4: DUTIES OF COMMISSION: The duties of said Planning Advisory Commission are as follows: (A) To acquire and maintain in current form such information and background data that is necessary understanding of past trends, present conditions and at work to cause changes in these conditions. basic to an forces 1 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 (B) To prepare and keep current, in conjunction with the City Planner, the Comprehensive Plan. (C) To establish principles and policies for guiding action affecting development in the city and its environs. (D) To determine whether specific proposed developments conform to the principles and requirements for the comprehensive plan and the City ordinances. (E) To keep the City Council and the general public informed and advised as to all planning and development matters. (F) To review and make recommendations to the Council on planned unit development and subdivision proposals. (G) To hold public hearin9s for subdivisions, planned developments and rezon~ng, applications and furnish Council with information and recommendations of hearings. (Ord. 77-7, 7-ll-77) (H) To prepare and submit to the City Council within sixty (60) days after the end of the calendar year a summary report of all variances granted to applicants from January 1 through December 31 of that calendar year. The summary report shall contain such information as deemed necessary and requested by the City Council. unit the such The Planning Commission may approve variance and home occupation permits ~ursuant to City Code. If approved, the applicant may file a bu~lding permit, during regular office hours, following the hearing date. The Planning Commission makes recommendations to the City Council on conditional use permits, rezoning applications, and amendments to the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances. These applications which include conditional use permits, rezoning, and amendments to the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance require review and final approval from the City Council. SECTION 2 - PLANNING COMMISSION ETHICS: PURPOSE: The purpose of this section is to provide broad guidelines for the conduct of individual Planning Commissioners. Each Planning Commissioner must bear the responsibility of adherence to these guidelines. In the event a ~roblem presents itself, the chairperson shall take the init~ative to resolve it in a manner most appropriate. (l) Planning Commissioners who have a current or ongoing business relationship or vested interest with an applicant or other parties with significant interest in the decision shall refrain from discussion. Vested interest is to mean any interest(s) or issues that may present a conflict of interest now and in the future. 2 ~ ~~~V ~ (2) A Plannin9 Commissioner's opinion pertaining to a function, organizat~on or specific application shall not be given to the media unless there is a clear qualification that the opinion is that of the Commissioner and not that of the entire Commission. If a Planning Commissioner gives or re~resents the opinion(s) of the Planning Commission those op~nion(s) must be approved by a consensus of the Planning Commission and recorded it its minutes. (3) Plannin~ Commissioners shall conduct themselves as profess~onals when representing the Commission. (4) A Planning commissioner shall avoid any appearance of impropriety. (5) A Planning Commissioner shall make every attempt to visit the site prior to discussing site related issues. (6) The chairmember of the Planning Commission may make a recommendation to the Mayor for the removal of any member of the Commission who is absent more than six (6) times throughout the calendar year. SECTION 3 - PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA AND MEETING FORMAT: Business of the meeting will be conducted according to the Agenda prepared by the Director of Planning. Unless extreme circumstances exist, the Director of Planning shall place the completed agenda packets in the mail on Friday prior to the meeting date. To meet this schedule the Planning Director shall adhere to the submittal deadlines established by Staff at the beginning of each year. A memo, report, or brief explanation of each agenda item shall be included in the Planning commission Agenda packet. The information provided by staff should serve to inform the Plannin~ Commission of the sub~ect matter under discussion. The ~nformation should explain ~n detail the staff comments or work, or state that staff will present the necessary details and comments at the meeting. The meeting agenda will be prepared according to the following: l. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes 3. New Business including Public Hearings 4. Other Business 5. Announcements and Correspondence 6. Adjournment SECTION 4 - MINUTE PREPARATION: A. The Director of Planning is responsible for the minutes of the meeting. The meeting proceedings will be tape recorded and noted by hand by the Recording Secretary or a designated representative from staff. 3 The following two requirements for minute preparation will be adhered to: 1. All motions will be typed in capital letters. 2. Names of the Commissioners will be listed after their vote on the motion. B. The official minutes shall be prepared and presented to the Planning Commission at the next regularly scheduled meeting. The minutes shall be reviewed by the Planning commission and the presiding officer shall call for any additions or corrections. If an addition or correction is presented, the change must be specific as to place, paragraph, and sentence. Approval of the minutes requires a motion, second and a majority vote of the members present at the meeting. C. The Director of Planning is responsible for the maintenance and filin~ of the minutes. The following procedure will be used in f~ling of the minutes: 1. All minutes of the Planning commission will be kept on file in the office of the City Planner in hard copy or on microfilm. 2. All tape proceedings, excluding public hearings, must be kept for a minimum of one year from the date of recording. 3. All tape proceedings that include public hearings must be kept for seven years from the date of recording. D. A copy of the minutes of the meeting shall together with the agenda for the upcoming minutes and Planning Commission Agenda will to: be distributed meeting. The be distributed l. Mayor and City Councilmembers 2. Planning Commission Members 3. Selected Staff members. 4. Selected residents and individuals indicated on the mailing list kept by the Planning Department Secretary. E. Remarks made by a member of the Planning commission may be entered into the minutes by stating that he/she desires to go on the record. These remarks shall be entered into the minutes by the Recording Secretary by way of synopsis. A verbatim record will only be entered if requested by a member of the Commission. 4 SECTION 5 - QUORUM AND VOTING PROCEDURES: A. At each meeting a ma~ority of all the members appointed, at least three out of f~ve, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. B. The voting options available to the Planning commission when a vote has been initiated are: aye - an affirmative vote; nay - a negative vote; and abstain - a neutral vote, neither affirmative nor negative. When a vote is to be taken, the presiding officer shall first call for the ayes, then the nays, and if applicable, shall call for the abstentions. The votes of each member shall be recorded in the minutes. If a member of the Planning Commission is absent during a vote, the member's vote for the official minutes shall read as "absent". SECTION 6 - ROLES AT MEETING: A. On the majoritf of agenda items, if not all items, the time for direct cit~zen input, comments and questions will be immediately after the city Staff report and/or presentation. During this time period, every member of the public desiring to speak shall address the presiding officer (by raising a hand or standing up) and upon recognition, shall confine their remarks to the issue under consideration. The ~residing officer may use her/his discretion when an ~ndividual member of th~ public requests to speak more than once on a single issue. B. Immediately after citizen input is finished on the issue, the members of the Planning commission take turns addressing the issue. Each individual member of the Planning Commission may recognize a member of the public when the member has been recognized to speak by the presiding officer. Members of the Planning commission must use judgment and discretion when recognizing members of the public to speak during the time they have the floor. C. Members of the general public, interested parties or their authorized representatives may address the Planning Commission by written communications in regard to matters under discussion. Written communications may be read aloud at the meeting if so requested by the author. The communication(s) shall be read by the presiding officer or her/his designee. D. One member of the Planning Commission shall serve as the Chairmember and one as Vice Chair. The Vice Chair shall preside at all meetings when the Chairmember is absent from the meeting. When the Vice Chair is presiding at the meeting, he/she shall assume the authority and responsibility 5 of the presiding officer at the meeting. and Vice Chair shall be chosen on an reor~anization shall occur on the first meet~ng in August. E. If in the event the Chairmember and Vice Chair are absent, the Director of Planning shall call the meeting to order and preside until such a time that the Planning Commission elects among itself a member to preside at the meeting. After a member of the Planning Commission has been selected to preside over the meeting, the Planning Director shall step down. The presiding officer, at all times, shall be allowed to vote in the same manner as all other Commissioners. A new Chairmember annual basis. The regularly scheduled The presiding officer has two unique powers: Interpreting and applying the rules of procedure; and recognizing s~eakers from the audience. That official shall have the obl~gation to be impartial and objective in conducting the meeting. The presiding officer shall open all public hearings at the predetermined time and date. The presiding officer shall, for informational purposes, state the purpose of the hearing or read the public notice calling for the hearing into the record of the meeting proceedings. The presiding officer shall recognize all speakers from the audience, except when a member of the Planning Commission has the floor and the~ expressly recognize a member of the audience who. des~res to speak on the issue under consideration. The presiding officer has the responsibility to facilitate discussion by the Planning Commission. This may occur in a variety of ways, including: 1. 2. 3. 4. Interpret and apply rules of procedure. Decide whether motions are ~roperly made. Decide whether motions are ~n order. Decide whether questions of special privilege ought to be 9ranted. Dec~de when to recognize speakers. Call for motions or recommend motions. Expel disorderly persons from the meeting. Enforce speaking procedures. 5. 6. 7. 8. If a motion is unnecessary, unsuitable for consideration, and/or proposed at an inopportune time for the purpose of delaying or embarrassing others, the presidin~ officer may rule the motion out of order on her/his own in~tiative. The presiding officer is res~onsible for maintaining order at the meetings. Although meet~ngs must be open to the public, no person who is noisy or unruly has a right to remain in the 6 Council Chambers. When individuals abuse their rights to be present, the presiding officer, subject to overrule by the Planning Commission, can order their removal from the room. SECTION 7 - PUBLIC HEARING FORMAT: A. Public hearings shall be conducted in the following manner: l. The Chairmember calls the public hearing to order and declares the time of opening. It is the intent of the Planning Commission to open all public hearings at the predetermined and published time. From a practical standpoint, not all hearin~s can be opened at their designated time. The pres~ding officer may delay the start of a hearing until the business at hand is acted u~on, in any manner, by the Planning Commission. In no c~rcumstances can a hearing be opened prior to the predetermined and published time. 2. The presiding officer shall read, from the hearing notice, the details on the hearing sufficient to provide the public a general understanding of the purpose of the hearing. 3. The Recording Secretary shall pass out to the audience a sign up sheet with columns for name, address and phone number. This sheet shall become part of the public hearing record. 4. The presiding officer that may be received includes the name and from the podium. should announce the type of input by the citizens. Formal input address of the speaker delivered 5. The procedure for public hearings shall be as follows: a. If applicable, the applicant makes a presentation or report on the subject matter. b. staff shall make a presentation or report on the subject matter. The presiding officer shall ask comments and ~estions. officer shall fac~litate this meeting. d. The Planning Commission shall address the subject matter through deliberation, questions to citizens and staff, and reactions and statements of position on the subject. Any Planning Commission member who has the floor may recognize members of the audience for additional comments. c. for citizen input, The presiding portion of the 7 6. The Planning Commission should take action on the application before them in the form of a motion. However, the Commission may formulate a recommendation which outlines the parameters under which an approval would be granted. The reasons and conditions shall be stated in the motion for approval or denial. Continuation of an action may occur in the event insufficient information is present to make a decision. The Planning Commission shall delineate the missing information before continuing the item. 7. The presiding officer shall close the public hearing and state the time the hearing is closed. a. If the Planning Commission decides to continue the deliberation on the subject matter of a hearing, the presiding officer in consultation with the Director of Planning shall select a time and date during a future regularly scheduled meeting to reopen the hearing for further deliberation and possible action. b. No additional publication or notice requirements are needed if a hearing is continued to a later date. c. In the event that an issue is denied, the applicant has the option to appeal the decision of the Planning Commission to the City Council. The process of appeal begins when the applicant contacts the Director of Planning during regular office hours, to schedule the appeal before the City Council. 8