§ 153.004. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION.

(A) Establishment, composition, terms of members, vacancies, compensation of members. There is hereby established a Planning and Zoning Commission of the town, to consist of five members, each of whom shall be a resident of the town, to be appointed by the Town Council. Members shall be appointed to staggered three-year terms with no more than two commencing in the same year. Vacancies shall be filled by the Council to finish any unexpired term. All members shall serve without pay. However, members of the Commission may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in connection with their duties upon authorization by the Commission and approval by the Town Council. One member of the Town Council shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and shall function as a voting member in the absence of any member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and shall, in that case, be considered a member of the Commission in terms of forming a voting quorum.

(B) Powers and duties. It shall be the duty of the Commission to formulate and administer any plan duly adopted by the Council for the present and future growth of the town pertaining to the use of land and buildings for any purpose and to keep this plan current and up to date by recommending amendments from time to time to the Town Council. The Commission shall administer, subject to approval by Town Council, the zoning ordinance in all matters relating thereunto and shall carry out the specific duties as outlined in this chapter and shall undertake all activities usually associated therewith and commonly known as “planning and zoning” responsibilities, including conditional use permits. The Commission will review all aspects of proposed re-zoning, code amendments and other development requests including, but not limited to, present and projected growth of the town, site planning and the relationship of the development to the surrounding environment and the community regarding land use and zoning.

(C) Rules, regulations, records, meetings. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public. The minutes and records of all Commission proceedings shall be kept indefinitely and filed as public record in the office of the Town Clerk. The Commission shall establish its own rules of conduct, officers, meeting schedule and other matters relating to the conduct of the business of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

(D) Quorum, voting. Three members shall constitute a quorum. The affirmative vote of three members shall be required for passage of any matter before the Commission. In this connection, the minutes of the meeting shall reflect the “ayes” and “nays” cast on a particular measure. A member may abstain from voting upon a declaration that he or she has a conflict of interest, in which case the member shall take no part in the deliberation on the matter in question. The member of the Town Council shall serve as a voting member in the absence of any one regular member of the Commission.

(1974 Code, § 18-1-4) (Res. 99-016, passed 9-8-1999; Ord. 99-002, passed 9-8-1999)