§ 2.4. Joint planning commission.

2.4.1

Establishment and purpose.

2.4.1.1

In addition to the individual, local planning boards as established section 2.3 of this ordinance, the County of Lee, the Town of Broadway and the City of Sanford shall establish and maintain a joint planning commission.

2.4.1.2

The purpose of this joint planning commission is to provide additional guidance to the all three governing bodies regarding certain matters of land use administration. More specifically, this joint commission will review and provide recommendations to the local planning boards and governing bodies regarding:

• Any and all proposed amendments to this Unified Development Ordinance;

• Multi-jurisdictional land use plans or other similar long-range planning documents.

2.4.1.3

Scope of approval. As an advisory board, the decisions of the joint planning commission are recommendations that shall be transmitted to all three local planning boards and to the governing bodies for their review and final decision. Pursuant to the same authority as set forth in G.S. §§ 153A-321 and 160A-361, the joint planning commission shall serve in the same advisory capacity as the local planning boards, except that the joint planning commission will review only multi-jurisdictional issues. The joint planning commission shall not review site specific requests, such as individual requests for rezoning or preliminary subdivision plat reviews (see Figure 2.3).

2.4.2

Membership and appointment.

2.4.2.1

The joint planning commission shall be composed of nine regular members as follows:

• Two Lee County Commissioners (Chairman and one additional member).

• Two City of Sanford Council members (Mayor and one additional member).

• Two Town of Broadway Commissioners (Mayor and one additional member).

• Three chairman of each local planning board.

Note: The additional member from each council or commission shall be appointed by that respective governing body.

2.4.2.2

The manager for each of the three jurisdictions shall serve as ex-officio members of the joint planning commission.

2.4.2.3

At an annual organizational meeting, the members of the joint planning commission shall elect one of their members as chair and one as vice-chair. In the absence of the chair, the vice-chair shall act as chair and shall have all powers of the chair. In the absence of both, the commission shall elect a temporary chair to conduct the meeting. The chairperson shall be in charge of all proceedings before the commission, and may take such action as shall be necessary to preserve order and the integrity of all proceedings before the commission.

2.4.3

Meetings, hearings and procedure:

2.4.3.1

No meeting of the joint planning commission may be called to order, nor may any business be transacted by the commission, without a quorum consisting of a majority of the appointed membership of the commission. The chair shall be considered for purposes of establishing a quorum and shall act as a voting member. All actions shall require the concurring vote of a majority of the members of the commission.

2.4.3.2

The commission shall establish a regular meeting schedule by rule. Special meetings may be requested by any of the three governing bodies, the chair of the commission, a majority of the members of the commission or the department of community development.

2.4.3.3

If a matter is postponed due to lack of a quorum, the chair of the commission shall continue the meeting to the next commission meeting. The recording secretary shall notify all members of the date of the continued meeting and also shall notify all parties.

2.4.4

The department of community development shall serve as the professional staff of the commission. The department of community development shall appoint a recording secretary to serve the commission. The secretary shall keep minutes of all proceedings of the commission, which minutes shall be a summary of all proceedings before the commission, attested to by a majority of the members of the commission voting. In addition, the secretary shall maintain all records of commission meetings, hearings and proceedings, the correspondence of the commission.

(Ord. of 9-19-2005)