A Planning Board is hereby established as provided in Chapter 160D-301 of the General Statutes of North Carolina. Said Board shall consist of seven (7) regular members and one (1) alternate member and shall have proportional representation from within the corporate limits and the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of the City of Claremont. Five (5) regular members and one (1) alternate member shall reside inside city limits and be appointed by the City of Claremont. Two (2) regular members shall reside outside city limits but inside the city’s ETJ and be appointed by the Catawba County Board of Commissioners. Members shall serve overlapping terms of three (3) years. Initially the City Council and County Commissioners shall appoint two (2) regular members for a three (3) year term, two (2) regular members for a two (2) year term and one (1) alternate member for a one (1) year term. The alternate member of the Planning Board shall be called on to attend only those meetings and hearings at which one (1) or more regular members are absent or are unable to participate in hearing a case (considering a text or zoning amendment) because of an impermissible conflict of interest as set out in N.C.G.S. 160D-109(b). Except at the election of officers, at no time shall more than seven (7) members participate officially in any meeting or hearing. Should population in either the city or extraterritorial jurisdiction change enough to require an additional member to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment then numbers appointed by the City Council and the Claremont County Board of Commissioners will be changed accordingly.

(Ord. of 12-7-04; No. 37-02; Ord. of 8-7-06; No. 18-06; Ord. of 1-5-15, No. 12-14; Ord. of 6-21-21, No. 41-21; Ord. of 3-6-23, No. 30-23)

   The Planning Board shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from its members who shall serve for one (1) year or until re-elected or until their successors are elected. The Board shall appoint a secretary, who may be a municipal officer or an employee of the city. The Planning Board shall adopt rules of procedure in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and in Article 3, Chapter 160D of the General Statutes of North Carolina. Meetings of the Planning Board shall be held once a month or at the call of the Chairman. All meetings of the Planning Board shall be open to the public.

   It shall be the duty of the planning board, in general:

   1.   To acquire and maintain in current form such basic information and materials as are necessary to an understanding of past trends, present conditions and forces at work to cause changes in those conditions;

   2.   To prepare and from time to time amend and revise a comprehensive and coordinated plan for the physical development of the area;

   3.   To establish principles and policies for guiding action in the development of the area;

   4.   To prepare and recommend to the City Council ordinances providing orderly development along the lines indicated by the comprehensive plan;

   5.   To determine whether specific proposed developments conform to the principles and requirements of the comprehensive plan for the growth and improvement of the area;

   6.   To keep the City Council and general public informed and advised as to those matters;

   7.   To perform any other duties that may lawfully be assigned to it. (Ord. of 12-7-04; No. 37-02; Ord. of 6-21-21, No. 41-21)