[1]
Editor's note: For act validating this chapter, see chapter 183 of the Public Laws of 1963.
There shall be a city plan commission which shall consist of the director of public works, director of finance, and seven electors of the city who shall hold no salaried office in the city government and who are known to be interested in city planning. The terms of the seven nonofficial members of the city plan commission in office prior to the effective date of this Charter amendment shall continue as members of the commission until the expiration of terms for which they were appointed and as their respective terms expire their successors shall be appointed by the mayor for terms of four years. Two electors shall be appointed by the council president. One shall be a resident of either Ward 1, 2 or 3 and the other shall be a resident of either Ward 4, 5 or 6. Council president appointees shall serve for a term of four years. Any vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term in the same manner as the original appointment was made. Annually at its first regular meeting in January the commission shall elect a president from among its nonofficial members. The commission shall have power to make rules not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter for the conduct of its business, which shall establish a schedule of regular meetings to be held at least monthly and provide opportunity for all persons affected by any matter under consideration by the commission to be heard thereon. No action shall be taken by the commission except by a majority vote of all its members. The nonofficial members of the commission shall serve without compensation.
(Res. No. 2008-29, §§ 1, 2, 5/27/2008, approved at referendum 11/4/1908; Res. No. 2014-26, § 1, 6/23/2014, approved by referendum 11/4/2014)
The city plan commission shall appoint and remove, subject to the provisions of chapter 14, a planning director and such other employees as it may deem necessary, within the limits of the appropriation therefor. The planning director shall designate a member of the staff to act as secretary of the commission. The planning director shall have at the time of the planning director's appointment a degree in city planning or some related field from a college or university of recognized standing and shall have at least three years' experience in city planning. The planning director shall be the administrative head of the planning staff and under the supervision and control of the commission shall direct their activities. The city plan commission shall have power within the limits of the appropriation therefor to contract without necessity of competitive bidding for the services of expert planning consultants.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998)
It shall be the duty of the city plan commission to carry on continuing studies of all factors involved in the physical development of the city and of its environs to the extent that the latter affect the physical development of the city, to combine the results of these studies in a comprehensive or master plan for the physical development of the city or any defined portion thereof and to amend the same from time to time as changing conditions require. The subjects to be included in the comprehensive plan or portion or amendment thereof may include but shall not be limited to: (a) the best uses ofland; and, (b) the character, extent and location of streets and other public ways, public utilities supplying water, gas, electricity and transportation, railway, bus and other terminals, schools and other public buildings, parks, squares, monuments, playgrounds, playfields, open spaces, slum clearance and other redevelopment projects. The commission shall adopt a comprehensive plan or portion or amendment thereof only after a public hearing thereon notice of which shall be published as a paid advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the city twice a week for three successive weeks. Upon adoption of the comprehensive plan or portion or amendment thereof the commission shall transmit the same to the council and when approved with or without modification by the council by ordinance such comprehensive plan or portion or amendment thereof shall become binding upon the city and all its departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies. Thereafter no ordinance or other action of the council and no act or order of any department, board, commission, office or agency of the city in violation of the terms of the comprehensive plan or any portion or amendment thereof, adopted as above provided, shall be valid or legally effective. Nothing herein shall be taken to prevent the council from initiating by ordinance the amendment, modification or repeal of any provision of the comprehensive plan or portion or amendment thereof, provided that such ordinance shall be referred before passage to the city plan commission which shall have thirty days from its next succeeding regularly scheduled meeting following such reference in which to express its opinion thereon. If within such period the commission adopts a resolution disapproving such ordinance its passage by the council shall require the affirmative votes of two-thirds of all its members.
It shall be the duty of the city plan commission to carry on through its staff with the assistance when necessary of expert consultants continuing studies of the capital improvements necessary or desirable in the physical development of the city and to weigh all such projects together with those submitted by the several departments, offices and agencies of the city in the formulation of the capital budget and capital improvement program. It shall consult with the engineering division of the department of public works as to the cost of various projects and with the director of fmance as to the fmancial resources of the city with which to meet them and shall recommend in the proposed capital budget and capital improvement program submitted to the mayor a well rounded and soundly based program of constructive public improvements.
The council shall have those powers relating to zoning heretofore or hereafter conferred on cities by the laws of the State of Rhode Island, to be exercised as hereinafter provided. The zoning regulations adopted by the council shall continue to be enforced by the inspector of buildings subject to the right of appeal to the zoning board ofreview from the building inspector's orders, requirements and decisions, as provided in section 9.09. It shall be the duty of the city plan commission to recommend to the council from time to time such changes in the zoning regulations previously adopted as in its judgment are necessary or desirable. No ordinance amending or repealing any existing zoning regulation or adding any new regulation to those already in force, except in those cases in which the council is carrying out recommendations of the commission, shall be adopted by the council until such ordinance has been referred to the city plan commission. The commission shall have thirty days from its next regularly scheduled meeting following such reference in which to express its opinion thereon. If within such period the commission adopts a resolution disapproving the ordinance its passage by the council shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of all council members.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998)
The city plan commission shall continue to have the power to frame, adopt and amend rules and regulations governing the platting and subdivision ofland within the city following a public hearing thereon notice of which shall be published as a paid advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the city twice a week for three successive weeks. After the completion of this hearing the city plan commission shall submit its proposals to the council and when approved with or without modification by the council by ordinance such rules and regulations shall become binding and effective. No such rule or regulation relating to subdivision control shall be adopted, amended or repealed by the council except as above provided. All plats of subdivisions shall be submitted to the city plan commission before filing and no such plat shall be accepted by the city clerk for filing or used as the basis for the sale oflots unless it is endorsed with the approval of the city plan commission signed by its secretary. Appeals may be taken from the decision of the city plan commission to the zoning board of review hereby designated as the platting board of review. The zoning board of review shall have power to sustain, overrule or modify the decision of the city plan commission appealed from and to authorize exceptions and variations from the strict terms of the subdivision regulations but in conformity with their general purpose, under conditions and to such extent as provided by law and ordinance.