[Adopted 2-25-1974]
There is hereby created a Planning Board of the Town of Cumberland
to exercise the powers granted it herein as well as those powers given
to such boards by statute.
A.Â
The Planning Board shall be comprised of seven members who shall
be appointed by the Town Council.
B.Â
Members shall be residents of the Town and serve without compensation.
Members of the Town Council and members of the Board of Adjustment
and Appeals shall not serve as members of the Planning Board.
C.Â
The terms of members shall be three years, except that initial appointments
shall be of three members for three-year terms, two members for two-year
terms and two members for one-year terms.
D.Â
Vacancies may occur by reason of resignation, death, removal from
the Town and, when certified to the Council by a majority of the members
of the Board, by failure to attend at least 75% of Board meetings,
regular or special, during any twelve-month period. A member may also
be removed for cause after notice and hearing by the Town Council.
Vacancies shall be filled by the Town Council for the unexpired term.
A.Â
The Board shall annually elect a Chairman and a Vice Chairman and
such other officers as it may determine necessary. Each such officer
shall serve for a period of one year or until a successor is elected.
A member may succeed himself as an officer.
B.Â
The Board shall hold regular monthly meetings and such other meetings
as it deems necessary from time to time. The Chairman or Vice Chairman
shall call meetings of the Board when requested by a majority of the
members of the Board or a majority of the members of the Town Council.
C.Â
Four members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction
of business. A lesser number may adjourn from time to time. The concurring
vote of a majority of the members of the Board present and voting
shall be necessary to approve any application or to support a recommendation
to the Town Council on any amendment to the Zoning Ordinance or Zoning
Map.
[Amended 7-27-2015]
D.Â
Any question of whether a particular issue involves a conflict of
interest sufficient to disqualify a member from voting thereon shall
be decided by a majority vote of the other members present.
E.Â
The Board may adopt, and amend, from time to time such procedural
rules for the conduct of its business as it deems necessary or convenient.
F.Â
All records of the Board shall be public records and may be inspected
at reasonable times.
The Planning Board shall have the following duties and powers:
A.Â
The Planning Board shall prepare a new or revised comprehensive plan
for the Town of Cumberland at least every five years. Such plan shall
conform as nearly as practicable to the definition thereof contained
in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4326 and in any event shall include a
compilation of policy statements, goals, standards, maps and pertinent
data relative to the past, present and future trends of the Town with
respect to its population, housing, economics, social patterns, land
use, and water resources and their use, transportation facilities
and public facilities.
[Amended 9-10-2012]
(1)Â
In the preparation of a comprehensive plan, the public shall be given
an adequate opportunity to be heard.
(2)Â
Upon submission of a new or revised comprehensive plan by the Board
to the Town Council, the Council shall adopt the same, with such changes
as it deems proper, within nine months after its receipt by the Council.
B.Â
The Board shall serve under 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4403 as the
municipal reviewing authority of all requests for subdivision approval.
[Amended 9-10-2012]
C.Â
The Board shall study the existing Subdivision Ordinance of the Town
and shall submit to the Council for its consideration proposed amendments
thereto, consistent with said comprehensive plan. The Board shall
reexamine the Subdivision Ordinance and make any recommendations for
changes therein which it deems desirable within six months after Council
adoption of a new or revised comprehensive plan. The Council shall
take action on such recommendations within six months after receiving
them.[1]
E.Â
The Board shall review and approve all proposed street names; investigate
and make such reports and recommendations upon such matters as it
may deem appropriate or as may be formally referred to it by the Town
Council, the Board of Adjustment and Appeals or the Town Manager;
and review and develop with the Town Manager the annual capital budget.
In those matters in which the Planning Board is called upon
to make a decision and which are now reserved by the Charter, statute
or ordinance for decision by the Town Council, the Board of Adjustment
and Appeals, the Town Manager, or others, any alteration of its decision
can only be achieved by a two-thirds vote of the Council. A proposal
which has been disapproved by the Board may be enacted only by a two-thirds
vote of the Council.
The Town Manager and the Building Inspector shall attend at
least a majority of the meetings of the Board. The Board may request
the Town Manager to engage such professional and clerical help as
it may require to carry out its duties, subject to the availability
of funds appropriated therefor by the Council. The Board shall annually
through the Chairman request operating appropriations in a manner
prescribed by the Manager. Professional appointments made by the Manager
shall be with the advice of the Board and subject to Council confirmation.
The present Planning Board shall continue in existence and continue
its functions until a new Planning Board is appointed in accordance
with this article. The Town's present Comprehensive Plan shall continue
in full force and effect until such time as a new plan is adopted.
