[Amended 12-28-2006 by Ord. No. O-06-59]
A. 
Pursuant to the authority granted in RSA 673:2, there is hereby established a Planning Board for the City.
B. 
The Planning Board shall consist of the Mayor or his appointed representative who shall be confirmed by the Board of Aldermen, the City Engineer, and a member of the Board of Aldermen appointed by the President of the Board of Aldermen who shall be selected from the members of its aldermanic Planning and Economic Development Committee and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen, all as members ex officio, and six residents of the City who shall be appointed by the Mayor, and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen.
C. 
The Mayor shall appoint up to five, but not less than three alternate members who are residents of the City and who shall be confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. An alternate member shall vote in the absence of a member. The President of the Board of Aldermen shall appoint an alternate to the aldermanic member, who shall be selected from the members of its aldermanic Planning and Economic Development Committee and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen, and who shall vote in absence of the aldermanic member.
D. 
The Mayor shall submit a new appointment or a reappointment of a member or alternate to the Board of Aldermen not later than three months prior to expiration of the current term of office. If confirmation is denied or the appointment is withdrawn, the Mayor shall submit a different appointment to the Board of Aldermen not later than on the last day of expiration of the member or alternate current term of office.
E. 
Any mayoral appointment or appointment from alternate to regular membership shall be interviewed in public by the appropriate aldermanic committee. Reappointments shall only be interviewed in public by the appropriate aldermanic committee at the request of any member of the Board of Aldermen.
[Amended 3-22-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-54; 5-13-2014 by Ord. No. O-14-014]
F. 
The terms of the ex officio members shall correspond to their respective official tenures, except in the case of the appointed representative selected by the Mayor, whose term shall terminate with the term of the Mayor selecting him. The terms of each member and alternate member not ex officio shall be three years. All terms of the appointed members shall begin on the first day of April.
G. 
The appointed members shall hold no other municipal office, except that one appointed member may be a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, one appointed member may be a member of the Conservation Commission, and one appointed member may be a member of the Historic District Commission.
Members of the Planning Board other than the member selected by the Board of Aldermen may, after public hearing, be removed by the Mayor for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. The Board of Aldermen may, for like cause, remove the member selected by them.
[Amended 12-28-2006 by Ord. No. O-06-59]
A. 
Vacancies in the membership of the Planning Board occurring otherwise than through expiration of term shall be filled for the duration of the unexpired term by the Mayor, in the case of members appointed by him. Such appointments by the Mayor are to be confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. The Board of Aldermen shall make appointments in the case of the aldermanic members.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, which immediately followed, regarding staying in office more than 90 days after expiration of term, was repealed 3-8-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-49.
A. 
Subject to any limitations in this chapter, the Planning Board may appoint such employees as it may deem necessary for its work. Appointment, promotion, demotion and removal shall be subject to the same provisions of law as govern other corresponding civil employees of the City.
B. 
The Board of Aldermen may provide such funds, equipment and accommodations as it may deem necessary or advisable for the Planning Board's work. All expenditures of the Planning Board, exclusive of gifts or reimbursements, shall be within the amount appropriated for the purpose by the Board of Aldermen.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-06-63]
A. 
The Planning Board shall elect a Chairman from the appointed members and create and fill such other offices as it may deem necessary for its work. The term of the Chairman shall be one year, with eligibility for reelection.
B. 
Pursuant to RSA 673:10, the Board shall hold at least one regular meeting each month, adopt rules for the transaction of business, keep a public record of its resolutions, transactions, findings and determinations, and forward a copy of the minutes of its meetings to the City Clerk for distribution to each member of the Board of Aldermen.
C. 
A quorum of the Planning Board consists of five members, unless the membership, accounting for members and alternate members, falls below nine members in which case a quorum consists of a majority of the membership remaining.
D. 
A quorum shall be necessary to convene a meeting in order to transact any business. All decisions made by the Planning Board, whether negative or affirmative, shall require a majority of members present and voting. The Chairman shall designate an alternate to hear the case and to vote on the case in event of an absence or a vacancy or a disqualification of a member, except that an alternate aldermanic member can only serve in the absence of the aldermanic member.
E. 
The Planning Board shall, subject to and conditional on annual funding from the Board of Aldermen publish in a newspaper of general circulation the Planning Board's agenda for any public meeting or hearing held by the Board less than five days prior to the meeting or hearing. Lack of such publication shall not create a legal notice deficiency.
F. 
All meetings shall be open to the public subject to RSA 91-A, the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law.
A. 
It shall be the duty of the Planning Board to prepare and amend from time to time a Master Plan to guide the development of the municipality. A Master Plan may include consideration of any areas outside the boundaries of the municipality which in the judgment of the Planning Board bear a relation to or have an impact on the planning of the municipality. Every Planning Board shall from time to time update and amend the adopted Master Plan with funds appropriated for that purpose by the Board of Aldermen. In preparing, amending, and updating the Master Plan:
(1) 
The Planning Board shall have responsibility for promoting interest in, and understanding of, the Master Plan of the municipality. In order to promote this interest and understanding, the Planning Board may publish and distribute copies of the Master Plan, copies of any report relating to the Master Plan, and may employ such other means of publicity and education as it may deem advisable.
(2) 
The Planning Board shall also have authority to make any investigations, maps and reports, and recommendations which relate to the planning and development of the municipality.
B. 
The Planning Board may from time to time report and recommend the appropriate public officials and public agencies programs for the development of the municipality, programs for the erection of public structures, and programs for municipal improvements. Each program shall include recommendations for its financing. It shall be part of the Planning Board's duties to consult with and advise public officials and agencies, public utility companies, civic, educational, professional, research and other organizations, and to consult with citizens, for the purpose of protecting or carrying out of the Master Plan as well as for making recommendations relating to the development of the municipality.
C. 
Members of the Planning Board, when duly authorized by the Board as a whole, may attend municipal planning conferences or meetings, or hearings upon pending municipal planning legislation. The Planning Board may by majority vote authorize the payment of reasonable expenses incident to such attendance.
D. 
The Planning Board, its members, officers, and employees, in the performance of their functions may enter upon any land and make such examinations and surveys as are reasonably necessary, and place and maintain necessary monuments and marks.
E. 
The Planning Board may, from time to time, recommend to the Board of Aldermen, amendments of the Zoning Ordinance or Zoning Map or additions thereto.
F. 
The Planning Board shall not do any act or acts pursuant to its power and duties which contemplate or necessitate the expenditure of municipal funds by resolution, inclusion in the municipal budget, appropriations or supplementary appropriations, or otherwise, without authorization by the Board of Aldermen.
G. 
The Planning Board shall have all authority and powers granted to Planning Boards by Title LXIV of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated and RSA 155-E, and for any other pertinent state statutes as amended, from time to time, whether or not such authority is specified in local ordinances, including but not limited to Articles XVI and XVIII and Parts 4 through 8 of this chapter.
H. 
The Planning Board is prohibited from making decisions involving construction, interpretation or application of the Nashua zoning ordinances. The Administrative Officer or his designee is duly authorized to decide compliance with the Nashua zoning ordinances prior to placing an application on the Planning Board's agenda.
I. 
In cases in which the Board grants approval conditional upon the applicant dedicating land or easements in land and improvements thereon to the City for stormwater drainage, widening of existing street right-of-way, public recreation, conservation, sanitary sewer, public vehicular and pedestrian access or other valid public purpose, the Board is authorized to accept and record on behalf of the City the appropriate deeds, plans, etc., without specific approval by the Board of Aldermen. Whenever such a dedication is contemplated, the Planning Director or his/her designee shall, on the basis of an appropriate investigation, report in writing as to the suitability of the land for the intended purpose, including, but not limited to, the presence of hazardous waste or other sources of undesirable obligations or liability risks. This authority shall not extend to the formal acceptance of new public streets or extensions of public streets.
[Added 6-26-2007 by Ord. No. O-06-57]
[Added 12-26-2007 by Ord. No. O-07-138]
A. 
The City Planning Department shall annually provide a list of mandatory and available training opportunities for newly appointed members and ongoing members of the Planning Board, as well as the attendance record for mandatory training sessions for the previous year.
B. 
All persons appointed to the Planning Board, including alternate members and ex officio members, shall attend mandatory training sessions. New member training shall be completed within six months of confirmation of appointment to the Planning Board.
C. 
The cost of mandatory training for the Planning Board shall be provided for in the annual budget.