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.