Pursuant to the authority conferred by Chapter 35A.63 RCW, there is created a planning commission (herein after referred to as the “commission”) composed of five members, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by a majority of the city council. At least three members shall reside within the city. All members must be residents of Garfield County. The terms for the initial members shall be two two-year terms and three three-year terms. The initial members and their terms shall be decided by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. Subsequent terms shall be for a three-year period. Terms shall expire on December 31. Members shall be selected without regard to political affiliation and serve without compensation.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 938 § 1, 2024)
A. 
The commission shall perform the following duties:
1. 
Serve as an advisor to the city council in order to promote the orderly physical development and growth of the city;
2. 
Prepare a comprehensive plan for the orderly physical and social development of the city. The intent and purpose of the comprehensive plan shall include and be designed to:
a. 
Provide a quality environment for all residents of the community;
b. 
Encourage the most appropriate use of land throughout the community;
c. 
Lessen traffic congestion and accidents;
d. 
Secure safety from fire;
e. 
Provide adequate light and air;
f. 
Prevent overcrowding of land;
g. 
Avoid undue concentration of population;
h. 
Provide for the preservation of clean air, clean water, and natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic qualities of the environment;
i. 
Promote coordinated development of undeveloped areas;
j. 
Encourage the formation of neighborhood and community units;
k. 
Secure an appropriate allotment of land area in new developments for all requirements of community life;
l. 
Conserve and restore natural beauty and other natural resources;
m. 
Facilitate the adequate provision of transportation; and
n. 
Establish and maintain an effective mechanism for citizen input to the decision process.
The comprehensive plan shall become the official plan of the city when approved by the city council and filed with the county auditor. The commission may recommend to the city council the plan prepared as a whole, or may recommend parts of the plan by successive recommendations, the parts corresponding with geographic or political sections, divisions, or subdivisions of the city, or with functional subdivisions of the subject matter of the plan. The commission shall comply with requirements of notice and public hearing provided by law in initiating and recommending the whole or parts of the comprehensive plan;
3. 
Recommend, or prepare and recommend, for the adoption by the city council, regulations, amendments, extensions or additions to such regulations or plans for the physical development of the city in the interest of health, safety, morals or general welfare of the community, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. 
The use of buildings and land for residence, trade, industry and other purposes;
b. 
The height, the number of stories, size, construction, and design of buildings and other structures;
c. 
The size of the yards, courts, and other open spaces on the lot or tract;
d. 
The density of population;
e. 
The setback of buildings along property lines, highways, parks, or other public water frontages; and
f. 
The subdivision and development of land.
4. 
Review and make recommendations to the city council on plats, plans or subdivisions, or dedications of land situated within the boundaries of the city or proposed for annexation to the city, subject to approval by the city council; hold public hearings on proposed plats and subdivisions; establish, subject to approval by the city council, such regulation and standards as are necessary to constitute a guide in determining whether or not the proposed plat or subdivision is in harmony with the comprehensive plan;
5. 
Act as a research and fact-finding agency of the city. The commission shall cause to be made such surveys, analyses, studies and reports generally authorized or requested by the city council;
6. 
Perform advanced planning for public works programs and the long-range capital improvement plan;
7. 
Establish such other work project priorities as the city council may direct;
8. 
Review, discuss, and analyze such work products and projects as may be referred to the commission by the city council or staff;
9. 
Form, subject to advanced approval of the city council, ad hoc committees within as well as outside its membership, to study specific problems or projects which may arise from time to time;
B. 
The council members on the planning and community development standing committee shall serve as the council liaison with the planning commission and, with the assistance of the city administrative staff, shall facilitate communication with the city council.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 938 § 1, 2024)
In the event a vacancy occurs in the membership of the planning commission, the mayor shall fill such vacancy by appointment for the balance of the term vacated, subject to the approval of the council. Members may be removed from the commission by the mayor, subject to the approval of the council.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 776 § 1, 2000)
The commission may, by a majority vote, recommend to the mayor removal of an appointed member upon such grounds as inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. Unexcused absence by any commission member from four consecutive meetings shall constitute grounds for removal, and absences by any commission member from six convened meetings, excused or unexcused, occurring with a twelve-month period, shall likewise be grounds for removal. Workshops shall be excluded from the definition of meetings for the purposes of this section.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 776 § 1, 2000)
The board and commission shall, at its first regular meeting of February of each year, elect its own chairperson and vice-chairperson and create and fill such other offices as it may determine it requires. The board or commission shall hold at least one regular meeting in each month of the year, unless canceled by the chairperson as a result of having no business to conduct or for other good cause. It shall adopt rules for transaction of business, and it shall keep a record of its meetings, resolutions, transactions, findings and determinations, which records shall be open to public inspection. A majority of the membership of the board and commission shall constitute a quorum for transaction of business.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997)
The board and commission, at or before its first regular meeting of February each year, shall make a full report in writing to the city council of its transactions during the preceding year, with general recommendations as it may deem proper.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997)
The expenditures of the board and commission, exclusive of gifts, shall be limited to appropriations made to the city planning office by the city council for the planning function of the city. The services and facilities of the city planning office shall be utilized by the board and commission in performing its duties, except as the services of outside consultants may be obtained for a temporary period of time when authorized by the city council. All programs requiring appropriations shall be submitted through the city planning office budget.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997)
An action or ruling by the city council pursuant to this title may be appealed to superior court within fifteen days after the city council has made its decision. Written notice of the appeal shall be filed with the clerk of the superior court within fifteen days. If the appeal is not filed with the superior court clerk within the fifteen day period, the decision of the city council shall be final.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 776 § 2, 2000)
The city council may require the payment of filing fees to cover the cost to the city of the administrative details of processing amendments to this title, conditional use applications and variance applications.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997)
When the planning commission or the city council is required to hold a public hearing, notice of the hearing shall be given in the following manner:
A. 
Each notice of hearing on a conditional use shall be published once in the official newspaper of the city at least ten days prior to the date of hearing.
B. 
Each notice of hearing on an appeal authorized by this title, or on an application for variance shall be published in the official newspaper of the city ten days prior to the date of hearing. In addition, at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing, notice of the hearing shall be posted on the property for which the application is made.
C. 
Failure of a person to receive a notice prescribed in this section shall not impair the validity of the hearing.
D. 
A public hearing may be recessed in order to obtain additional information or to serve further notice upon property owners or persons who may be interested in the proposal being considered. Upon recessing, the time and date when the hearing is to be resumed shall be announced.
(Ord. 747 § 1 (part), 1997; Ord. 776 § 2, 2000)