[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Council
of the Village of New Haven 5-2-1961 by Ord. No. 110. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The is hereby established a Village Planning
Commission to be known as "The Village Planning Commission of New
Haven."
A.
The Village
Planning Commission of New Haven shall consist of nine members, who
shall represent, insofar as is possible, different professions or
occupations, who shall be appointed by the Village President, subject
to the approval by a majority vote of the members elect of the Village
Council.
B.
All members
of the Village Planning Commission shall serve as such without compensation
and shall hold no other municipal office, except that one of such
members may be a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
C.
The term
of each member shall be three years, except that three members of
the first Commission to be appointed thereunder shall serve for the
term of one year, three members for a term of two years, and three
members for a term of three years; all members shall hold office until
their successors are appointed.
D.
Members
may, after a public hearing, be removed by the Village President for
inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
E.
Vacancies
occurring otherwise than through the expiration of term shall be filed
for the unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments
are made.
A.
The Commission
shall elect its Chairman from amongst the members and create and fill
such other of its offices as it may determine. The term of the Chairman
shall be one year with eligibility for reelection.
B.
The Commission
shall hold at least one regular meeting in each month. It shall adopt
rules for transaction of business and shall keep a record of its resolutions,
transactions, findings and determinations, which record shall be a
public record.
A.
The Commission
may appoint such employees as it may deem necessary for its work,
whose appointment, promotion, demotion and removal shall be subject
to the same provisions of law as govern other corresponding civil
employees of the municipality. The Commission may also contract with
Village planners, engineers, architects, and other consultants for
such services as it may require.
B.
The expenditures
of the Commission, exclusive of gifts, shall be within the amounts
appropriated for the purpose by the Village Council, which shall provide
the funds, equipment and accommodations it deems necessary for the
Village Planning Commission's work.
It shall be the function and duty of the Village
Planning Commission to make and adopt a Master Plan for the physical
development of the municipality, including any areas outside of its
boundaries which in the Commission's judgment bear relation to
the planning of such municipality. Such plan, with the accompanying
maps, plats, charts and descriptive matter, shall show the Commission's
recommendations for the development of said territory, including,
among other things, the general location, character and extent of
streets, viaducts, bridges, waterways, boulevards, parkways, playgrounds
and open spaces, the general location of public buildings and other
property, and the general location and extent of public utilities
and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned or operated, for
water, light, sanitation, transportation, communication, power and
other purposes; also the removal, relocation, widening, narrowing,
vacating, abandonment, change of use or extension of any of the foregoing
ways, grounds, open spaces, buildings, property, utilities or terminals;
the general location, character, layout and extent of community centers
and neighborhood units; and the general character, extent and layout
of the replanning and development of blighted districts and slum areas;
as well as a zoning plan for the control of the height, area, bulk,
location and use of buildings and premises. As the work of making
the whole Master Plan progresses, the Commission may from time to
time adopt and publish a part or parts thereof, any such part to cover
one or more major sections or divisions of the municipality or one
or more of the aforesaid or other functional matters to be included
in the plan. The Commission may from time to time amend, extend or
add to the plan.
In the preparation of the Master Plan, the Village
Planning Commission shall make careful and comprehensive surveys and
studies of present conditions and future growth of the municipality
and with due regard to its relation to the neighboring territory.
The plan shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing
a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the municipality
and its environs which will, in accordance with present and future
needs, best promote health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity
and general welfare, as well as efficiency and economy in the process
of development, including, among other things, adequate provision
for traffic, the promotion of safety from fire and other dangers,
adequate provision for light and air, the promotion of the healthful
and convenient distribution of population and the promotion of good
civic design and arrangement, wise and efficient expenditure of public
funds, and the adequate provision of public utilities and other public
requirements.
The Village Planning Commission may adopt the
plan as a whole by a single resolution or may, by successive resolutions,
adopt successive parts of the plan, said parts corresponding with
major geographical sections or divisions of the municipality or with
functional subdivisions of the subject matter of the plan, and may
adopt any amendment or extensions thereof or addition thereto. Before
the adoption of the plan or any part, amendment, extension or addition,
the Commission shall hold at least one public hearing thereon, notice
of the time and place of which shall be given not less than 15 days
prior to such hearing, by one publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in the municipality and in the official gazette, if any,
of the municipality, and by registered United States mail to each
public utility company and to each railroad company owning or operating
any public utility or railroad within the geographical sections or
divisions of the municipality affected. The adoption of the plan or
of any such part or amendment of extension or addition shall be by
resolution of the Village Planning Commission carried by the affirmative
votes of not less than six members of the Commission. The resolution
shall refer expressly to the maps and descriptive and other matter
intended by the Commission to form the whole or part of the plan,
and the action taken shall be recorded on the map and plan and descriptive
matter by the identifying signature of the Chairman and/or Secretary
of the Commission. An attested copy of the plan or part thereof shall
be certified to the Village Council and to the County Register of
Deeds.
A.
Whenever
the Village Planning Commission shall have adopted the Master Plan
of the municipality or of one or more major sections or districts
thereof, no street, square, park or other public way, ground or open
space, or public building or structure, shall be constructed or authorized
in the municipality or in such planned section and district until
the location, character and extent thereof shall have been submitted
to and approved by the Commission; provided that in case of disapproval,
the Commission shall communicate its reasons to the Village Council,
which shall have the power to overrule such disapproval by a recorded
vote of not less than 2/3 of its entire membership.
B.
For the
purpose of furthering the desirable future development of the municipality
under the Master Plan, the Village Planning Commission, after the
Commission shall have adopted a Master Plan, shall prepare coordinated
and comprehensive programs of public structures and improvements.
The Commission shall annually prepare such a program for the ensuing
six years, which program shall show those public structures and improvements,
in the general order of their priority, which in the Commission's
judgment will be needed or desirable and can be undertaken within
the six-year period. The above comprehensive coordinated programs
shall be based upon the requirements of the Village for all type of
public improvements, and, to that end, each agency or department of
the Village concerned with such improvements shall, upon request,
furnish the Commission with lists, plans and estimates of time and
cost of public structures and improvements within the purview of such
department.
Whenever the Village Council shall have ordered
the opening, widening or extension of any street, avenue or boulevard,
or whenever the Village Council shall have ordered that proceedings
be instituted for the acquisition or enlargement of any park, playground,
playfield or other public open space, such resolution shall not be
rescinded until after the matter has been referred back to the Village
Planning Commission for a report and until after a public hearing
shall have been held. The Village Council shall have power to overrule
the recommendation of the Village Planning Commission by a vote of
not less than 2/3 of its entire membership.
A.
The Village
Planning Commission shall have the power to promote public interest
in, and understanding of, the Master Plan and to that end may publish
and distribute copies of the plan or of any report and may employ
such other means of publicity and education as it may determine.
B.
Members
of the Commission, when duly authorized by the Commission, may attend
village planning conferences or meetings of village planning institutes,
or hearings upon pending Village planning legislation, and the Commission
may, by resolution spread upon its minutes, pay the reasonable traveling
expenses incident to such attendance. The Commission shall, from time
to time, recommend to the appropriate public officials programs for
public structures and improvements and for the financing thereof.
It shall be part of its duties to consult and advise with public officials
and agencies, public utility companies, civic, educational, professional
and other organizations, and with citizens with relation to protecting
or carrying out the plan.
C.
The Commission
shall have the right to accept and use gifts for the exercise of its
functions.
D.
All public
officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Commission, within a
reasonable time, such available information as it may require for
its work.
E.
The Commission,
its members, officers and employees, in the performance of their functions,
may enter upon any land and make examinations and surveys and place
and maintain necessary monuments and marks thereon.
F.
In general,
the Village Planning Commission shall have such powers as may be necessary
to enable it to fulfill its functions, promote municipal planning,
or carry out the purposes of this chapter.
Whenever the Village Planning Commission shall
have adopted that sort of a Master Plan relating to the major street
system of the territory within its subdivision, jurisdiction or part
thereof, and shall have filed a certified copy of such plan in the
office of the Register of Deeds of Macomb County, then no plat of
a subdivision of land within such territory or part shall be filed
or recorded until it shall have been approved by such Village Planning
Commission and such approval entered in writing on the plat by the
Chairman or Secretary of the Commission.
A.
Before exercising the powers referred to in § 77-11, the Village Planning Commission shall adopt regulations governing the subdivision of land within its jurisdiction. Such regulations may provide for the proper arrangements of streets in relation to other existing or planned streets and to the Master Plan, and for adequate and convenient open spaces for traffic, utilities, access of fire-fighting apparatus, recreation, light and air, and for the avoidance of congestion of population, including minimum width and area of lots.
B.
Such regulations may include provisions as to the
extent to which streets and other ways shall be graded and improved
and to which water and sewer and other utility mains, piping, or other
facilities shall be installed as a condition precedent to the approval
of the plat. The regulations or practice of the Commission may provide
for a tentative approval of the plat prior to such installation, but
any such tentative approval of the plat shall be revocable and shall
not be inferred on the plat. In lieu of the completion of such improvements
and utilities prior to the final approval of the plat, the Village
Planning Commission may accept a bond with surety to secure to the
municipality the actual construction and installation of such improvements
or utilities at a time and according to specifications fixed by or
in accordance with the regulations of the Commission. The Village
shall have the power to enforce such bond by all appropriate legal
and equitable remedies. All such regulations shall be published as
provided by law for the publication of ordinances, and before adoption,
a public hearing shall be held thereon. A copy thereof shall be certified
by the Commission to the Register of Deeds of Macomb County.
The Village Planning Commission shall approve,
modify or disapprove a plat within 60 days after the submission thereof
to it; otherwise such plat shall be deemed to have been approved,
and a certificate to that effect shall be issued by the Commission
on demand; provided, however, that the applicant for the Commission's
approval may waive this requirement and consent to an extension of
such period. The grounds for disapproval of any plat shall be stated
upon the records of the Commission. Any plat submitter to the Commission
shall contain the name and address of a person to whom notice of a
hearing shall be sent; and no plat shall be acted on by the Commission
without affording a hearing thereon. Notice shall be sent to the address
by registered mail of the time and place of such hearing not less
than five days before the date fixed therefor. Similar notice shall
be mailed to the owners of land immediately adjoining the platted
land, as their names appear upon the plats and records in the office
of the County Register of Deeds, and their addresses appear in the
directory of the city or on the tax records of the Village or county.
Every plat approved by the Village Planning Commission shall, by virtue
of such approval, be deemed to be an amendment of or an addition to
or a detail of the municipal plan and a part thereof. Approval of
a plat shall not be deemed to constitute or effect an acceptance by
the public of any street or other open space shown upon the plat.
The Village Planning Commission may, from time to time, recommend
to the Village Commission amendments of the Zoning Ordinance or Map
or additions thereto to conform to the Village Planning Commission's
recommendations for the zoning regulation of the territory comprised
within approved subdivisions.[1] The Commission shall have the power to agree with the
applicant upon use, height, area or bulk requirements or restrictions
governing buildings and premises within the subdivision, provided
such requirements or restrictions do not authorize the violation of
the then-effective Zoning Ordinance of the Village. Such requirements
or restrictions shall be stated upon the plat prior to the approval
and recording thereof and shall have the same force of law and be
enforceable in the same manner and with the same sanctions and penalties
and subject to the same power of amendment or repeal as though set
out as part of the Zoning Ordinance or Map of the Village.
