7.02.01   Responsibilities Specifically Related to this UDC

The Board of Commissioners is responsible for making the final decision on the following types of applications:

A.

Amendment to change the text of the UDC;

B.

Amendment to change the official zoning map;

C.

Request to rezone property from one zoning classification to another; and

D.

Request to grant a special use permit for a property.

7.03.01   Establishment, Membership and Officers

A.

There is hereby established the Planning Commission of Catoosa County, Georgia.

B.

All members of the Planning Commission shall be residents of Catoosa County, Georgia, above the age of 18 years and shall be registered voters of Catoosa County.

C.

The Planning Commission of Catoosa County shall be composed of five members appointed by the Board of Commissioners to serve three-year terms. Appointments shall be made so that the terms do not all expire in the same year. Each three-year term shall commence on the first day of January of the year following the appointment by the Board of Commissioners and continuing until December 31 of the third year following the appointment, or until the successors are duly appointed and qualified, whichever last occurs. There is also created an ex officio, non-voting membership post of the Planning Commission of Catoosa County. The ex officio membership post shall be in addition to the five members of the Planning Commission of Catoosa County. The appointment to the ex officio membership post shall be made by the Board of Commissioners from a nominee selected and submitted by the Catoosa County School System to be its designated representative. The ex officio member shall otherwise meet all requirements for membership on the Planning Commission as established by this Article and shall serve for the same term and schedule as other members of the Planning Commission. The ex officio member shall serve in an advisory capacity only and shall not be entitled to cast a vote on any matter coming before the Planning Commission. The ex officio member shall be permitted to participate in discussions and all other aspects of the meetings of the Planning Commission, to receive all information on any matter coming before the Planning Commission which is received by other members, and shall be governed by all other rules, regulations and standards of conduct applicable to the Planning Commission as set forth in this Article. The position of the ex officio member shall not be counted or utilized in determining whether a quorum exists for any meeting of the Planning Commission.

D.

The Board of Commissioners shall determine the compensation of the members.

E.

The Board of Commissioners by a majority vote may:

1)

Fill any vacancy in the membership by appointing a successor to serve the remainder of the unexpired term; and

2)

Remove any member of the Planning Commission and thereafter appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the term of the member removed. No member shall be removed during his/her term except for good and sufficient cause shown upon a hearing.

F.

Three (3) members of the Planning Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

G.

The chairman of the Planning Commission shall be elected from the membership of the Planning Commission (annually at the first meeting of the Planning Commission held in January by a majority vote of the members of the Planning Commission. The term of the chairman shall be for one (1) year. The chairman cannot serve more than two (2) consecutive one-year terms. An individual previously serving as chairman for two (2) terms may be reelected after one year following the last term in which the individual served as chairman.

(Ord. of 1-15-19(1))

7.03.02   Powers and Duties

A.

Platting Authority.

1)

The Planning Commission shall be the official platting authority, and no plat of land subdivision shall be entitled to record in the office of the clerk of court of Catoosa County unless it shall have the approval of the Planning Commission inscribed thereon.

2)

The filing or recording of a plat of a subdivision without the approval of the Planning Commission as required by this UDC is declared to be a misdemeanor. The provisions of this UDC shall govern all subdivisions of land within the unincorporated area of Catoosa County.

B.

Administrative Review. The Planning Commission shall have the power to hear and approve applications for conservation subdivisions, preliminary plats, and final plats that are initiated under this UDC.

C.

Amendments and Special Uses.

1)

The Planning Commission shall be authorized to recommend the adoption or denial of zoning amendments and special use permits to the governing authority.

2)

The Planning Commission shall be authorized to initiate zoning amendments on its own initiative. The Board of Commissioners may approve, disapprove, modify and/or remand (with or without directions) the recommendation of the Planning Commission.

D.

Appeals of Administrative Decisions.

1)

The Planning Commission shall have the power to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Zoning Administrator or Building Official concerning the provisions of this UDC.

2)

The appeals process shall follow Article IX of this UDC.

E.

Variances.

1)

The Planning Commission shall have the power to authorize upon appeal in specific cases such variance from the terms of this UDC as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this UDC will, in an individual case, result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, so that the spirit of this shall be observed, the public safety and welfare secured, and substantial justice done; provided however, a variance cannot be granted to allow a use in a zoning district that is prohibited in such zoning district.

2)

Procedures for variance shall follow Article VIII of this UDC.

7.03.03   Behavior and Ethics

A.

A member shall disqualify himself/herself from voting on any rezoning or land subdivision decision and is prohibited from taking any action to influence action on any decision when he or she knew or reasonably should have known that:

1)

He or she has a property interest in any real property affected by a rezoning or land subdivision action;

2)

He or she has a financial interest in any business entity which has a property interest in any real property affected by a rezoning or land subdivision action;

3)

He or she has taken a public position for or against a zoning application or action prior to the time of the hearing on the application;

4)

He or she has a member of his or her immediate family having any interest or position described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) above.

B.

The member who has an interest as defined in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), or (4) above shall disqualify himself/herself from voting on the rezoning action. The disqualified member shall not take any other action on behalf of himself/herself or any other person to influence action on the application or zoning action.

C.

As used in this subsection the terms defined in O.C.G.A. § 36-67A-1 et seq. shall have the same definitions as those defined herein.

D.

No Planning Commission member shall represent applicants on matters on which the Planning Commission is to make a decision.

E.

A member may disqualify himself from voting or participating in any decision whenever any person has sought to influence the vote of such member prior to the decision.

7.03.04   Legal Advisor

A.

The Planning Commission shall utilize the County Attorney as its legal advisor and to provide legal services to enforce the zoning requirements of this UDC. The Planning Commission through its Chairman or the Zoning Administrator shall request that the County Attorney provide legal assistance through the County Manager who shall determine whether the legal assistance is required or the County Manager may delegate this action to the Chairman of the Planning Commission or Zoning Administrator.

7.03.05   Conduct of Meetings/Hearings

A.

Meetings of the Planning Commission shall be held at the call of the Planning Commission chairman (chair) and at such other times as the Planning Commission may determine.

B.

The Planning Commission shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be filed in the Planning and Zoning Office as provided by law and shall be a public record. The minutes of the Planning Commission shall conform to the requirements of the Open and Public Meeting Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 et seq.).

C.

All meetings of the Planning Commission shall be open to the public, other than those excepted from such requirement by the Open and Public Meetings Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 et seq.) as now and hereafter enacted by the Georgia Legislature. The decision shall be made in a public meeting with the vote of each member being recorded and made available to the public. All evidence that is received must be taken in public meetings (with the exception of a view of the affected properties, which the Planning Commission has the inherent and specific right herein to conduct).

D.

No cursing, personal attacks or disruptions of any type shall be allowed; and the chair shall have the authority to terminate the right of any person to further participate or attend the remaining proceedings if such person violates this subsection.

E.

The chair shall conduct the parliamentary order of all zoning meetings/hearings.

F.

All persons requesting to speak at a Planning Commission hearing are required to sign the sign-in sheet confirming attendance at the meeting.

G.

At any hearing, any person may appear or be represented by authorized agents or attorneys. "Authorized" shall mean said agent or attorney is designated by the property owner on the rezoning, variance or special use permit application. Every person shall have the right to submit input for consideration by the Planning Commission; provided however that the chair may limit the time that a person has to be orally heard if the meeting is expected to last for more than 2½ hours. In the event that the chair determines that the expected time will be more than said 2½ hours, the following limitations will apply:

1)

Each applicant may be limited to a maximum of 15 minutes (exclusive of sworn witnesses) to present any argument in support of the application.

2)

Each witness may be limited to a maximum of ten (10) minutes, with any additional testimony needed to be submitted in writing.

3)

Other interested persons desiring to argue orally may be limited to five (5) in number and may be limited to ten (10) minutes each for submitting oral testimony. Additional testimony from other interested persons may be submitted in writing.

4)

Adjacent property owners shall be entitled to be heard orally for a maximum of ten (10) minutes each.

H.

During the meeting/hearing each person having the floor shall proceed without interruption by any person other than the chair or a Planning Commission member or its counsel.

1)

All questions shall be directed by all parties to the chair; provided that Planning Commission members or counsel for the Planning Commission may call for pertinent facts from the speaker, applicant or zoning administrator at any time.

2)

There shall be no questioning or argument between individuals in the audience.

3)

Television and other camera equipment or recording devices shall be placed at locations at the meeting as directed by the chair so that they will not be unduly disruptive.

4)

Persons wishing to cross examine the speaker shall address their questions to the chair, and the chair shall direct the response so long as the question is relevant to the issues under consideration, is not repetitive, and is not argumentative. However, a witness shall be subject to a limited cross examination (in the interests of the time exigencies at the time of the cross examination being sought) by a representative of the applicant or by a representative of an opponent group.

5)

In the event that the meeting/hearing is expected by the chair to last more than 2½ hours, the chair may direct that the questions be submitted in writing. It is suggested that testimony and cross examination be prepared in writing prior to the meeting and that a group representative be chosen prior to the meeting so that time exigencies will not limit the desired presentation.

I.

The Planning Commission, upon majority vote, shall have the right to adjourn should the meeting extend past 10:00 p.m. This right shall also include the power to recess to a time and place certain so long as a newspaper of general circulation in the county is notified as soon as practicable of the date, time and place of the continuance of the meeting/hearing.

J.

Unless otherwise specified, the planning commission shall render a decision at the conclusion of the hearing and shall inform the applicant in writing of the decision within 10 days of the date of decision. A matter that has incomplete information may be tabled for a period not to exceed 60 days unless agreed to by all parties to extend such period. Upon expiration of that period(s), the Planning Commission may decide the case on the merits or may dismiss the case for lack of progress/presentation, with or without the applicant present.

7.03.06   Indemnity

The Planning Commission and members thereof exercising the powers and authority (either expressly or implicitly) provided for in this UDC are indemnified by the county for their actions so long as the same are exercised in good faith.