Five members of the HDC shall constitute a quorum and the concurring
vote of a majority, but not less than four, of the members present
shall be necessary for either approval or rejection of any plans before
the HDC for review and for establishing or amending HDC rules and
regulations and standards of review.
No HDC member shall take part in the consideration or determination
of any case for a certificate of appropriateness in which he/she is
a party or has a financial interest except as noted in the Rhode Island
Ethics Commission Advisory Number 8, dated November 30, 1989. It shall
be the responsibility of the HDC member having a potential conflict
of interest to disclose such conflict to the HDC and to recuse himself/herself
from participation in the discussion or the vote. Minutes shall state
that the member has recused himself/herself from consideration of
the matter.
Members of the HDC shall be discouraged from expressing individual
opinions concerning any application with any persons prior to the
determination of that application, except in accordance with these
rules and the adopted Standards and Guidelines.
The HDC shall be available to meet on site with the applicant
or his/her representatives at any time in the design process in order
to advise them informally concerning the HDC's procedures and
guidelines, the nature of the area where the proposed construction
is to take place, and other relevant factors. The applicant shall
agree, by signing the application, to allow the HDC, as a group or
individually, to make site visits from time to time as deemed necessary.
Other than at a regular or emergency meeting, the HDC shall
refrain from any indication of approval or disapproval of applications
but shall not, for that reason, be barred from a reasonable discussion
of the applicant's proposals. No advice or opinion given, or
reported as having been given, by any member of the HDC at a preapplication
conference, at a site visit, or at an informal meeting shall be in
any way official or binding upon the HDC. Only the official vote of
the HDC shall be binding.