Agenda 05/01/2003 SPOKANE VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION
AGENDA
Council Chambers - City Hall 11707 E. Sprague Avenue
6:30 p.m.—9:30 p.m.
* * * May 1, 2003 * * *
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
• None
IV. AUDIENCE COMMENT
V. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
• Feedback on Planning Short Course
VI. COMMISSION BUSINESS
• Election of Chair and Vice-Chair
• Review of Draft Commission By-Laws
VII. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
• Next Meeting
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioners City Staff
Fred Beaulac Gail Kogle Greg McCormick,A1CP-Long Range
Robert Blum Ian Robertson Planning Manager
John Carroll Scott Kuhta,AICP-Long
David Crosby Range Planner
William Gothmann (509)921-1000
www.spokanevalley.org
City of Spokane Valley ORA
Planning Commission
BY-LAWS
We, the members of the Planning Commission of the City of Spokane Valley, State of
Washington, pursuant to the City of Spokane Valley Resolution No. 35 do hereby adopt,
publish and declare the following BY-LAWS which shall supercede all other rules and
procedures not set by City Ordinance or State Statute.
ORGANIZATION AND RULES OF PROCEDURE
1. Name
A. The official name of the organization is the "City of Spokane Valley
Planning Commission" hereinafter referred to as the "Commission".
2. Location
A. The official seat of the Commission is in the City Hall of the City of
Spokane Valley.
3. Officers
A. Officers of the Commission shall be elected from its membership; such
officers shall be Chair, Vice Chair, and other officers that the commission
may choose to approve and appoint by majority vote.
B. The Chair shall preside over the Commission and exercise all powers
incidental to the office, retaining however, the full right as a member of the
Commission to have a vote recorded in all deliberations of the
Commission, to propose motions and to second motions.
C. The Vice-Chair shall, in the absence of the Chair from any meeting,
perform all the duties incumbent upon the chair, and retain the full right as
a member of the Commission to have a vote recorded in all deliberations
of the Commission, to propose motions and to second motions.
4. Secretary of the Commission
A. The Director of the Department of Community Development or his/her
designee shall serve as the Secretary to the Commission.
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B. The Secretary shall provide for a tape recording of all Commission
meetings, including public hearings and workshops, and shall ensure that
summary minutes of all public hearings are prepared.
C. The Secretary will conduct and record a roll call of the Commission
members at each public hearing and shall note for the record attendance
at workshops.
5. Election of Officers
A. Officers shall be elected at the regular meeting in the 11th calendar month
of each year, by majority vote of the authorized membership of the
Commission; their terms of office shall run from January 1 following the
election meeting until December 31 of the same year, or until a successor
has been elected. No Commission member shall serve more than two full
consecutive terms as chair of the Commission. No member shall serve as
vice-chair for more than two full consecutive terms.
B. A vacancy of any office will be filled by a special election, to be held at a
convenient time with a majority present. In the event that the office of
chair is vacated, the vice-chair shall serve in that capacity until the
required special election is held. Any member of the Commission is
eligible to fill the vacancy. However, if a present officer wins the new
position his/her present office is considered vacant, as no member can
hold two office positions; and, an election shall then take place
immediately to also fill that position being vacated.
6. Quorum
A. A quorum shall consist of four members of the Commission and no action
can be taken in the absence of a quorum except to adjourn the meeting to
a subsequent date. This quorum must be present for public hearings and
workshops.
7. Voting
A. The affirmative vote of the majority of those present shall be necessary for
the adoption of any motion or other voting matter, unless otherwise
specified in these by-laws.
B. For the conduct of business dealing with matters requiring adoption or
changes to the City's Comprehensive Plan and the election of officers, at
least four affirmative votes must be cast. Each member of the
Commission is entitled to one vote but no proxy shall be allowed.
8. Meetings
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A. Generally there shall be two Planning Commission meetings each
month. The meetings shall be held on the (insert days of the week
and frequency, i.e. 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month , commencing at
6:30 p.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m.. Meeting ending time can be extended
by a majority vote of the commission.) These meetings may be used for
either study sessions or public hearings as described below:
1. Meetings on General Planning Matters. Typically planning matters
to be reviewed by the Commission will be proceeded by a
workshop meeting of the Commission to discuss the issues with
Community Development Department staff. No testimony from the
public shall be taken at a workshop.
2. Public Hearing Meeting. This is the meeting wherein general
business, other related business and public hearing items, such as
Comprehensive Plan formulation and amendments and revisions to
codes and ordinances are heard.
3. These scheduled meetings may be canceled or convened at other
times if deemed necessary by the Chair or, in the absence of the
Chair, by the Vice-Chair.
4. The order of business for Public Hearing Meetings shall be:
(a) Call to order by Chair.
(b) Roll call by recording secretary.
(c) Approval or amendment then approval of minutes.
(d) Audience comment.
(e) Administrative report.
(f) Commission business.
(g) Additional business.
(h) Adjournment.
B. Planning Commission meetings shall be held in accordance with the
requirements imposed by RCW 42.30.110 and 42.30.140.
C. Special meetings and work sessions may be called:
1. By the request of the Chair, or, in the Chair's absence, by the Vice-
Chair.
2. By the written request of three or more members of the
Commission.
3. By sustained motion of the Commission.
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9. Conduct of Hearings
A. On all questions of parliamentary procedure not covered by these by-laws,
Robert's Rules of Order, as amended, shall govern in the conducting of
the meetings of the Commission.
B. Upon declaring the opening of a hearing, the Chair shall state the
hearing's purpose; ascertain that the Commission members present are
oriented to the hearing question and hearing review process.
C. The order of public hearing proceedings shall be:
1. The Chair opens the public hearing for each specific item listed on
the agenda.
2. The Chair calls upon the Community Development staff to review
the staff report that has been prepared for the specific agenda item for
which the public hearing has been opened.
3. The Chair asks if any member of the Commission has any
questions for the staff.
4. The Chair next calls for public testimony on the agenda item,
beginning by first calling upon the applicant.
5. The Chair then asks if any member of the Commission has any
questions of the applicant.
6. The Chair next calls for comments, if any, from those other persons
attending the meeting. Testimony shall be limited to 5 minutes per
person. In situations where a person is representing a larger group, the
Commission may allow 10 minutes for testimony.
7. At the end of all testimony and after all questions asked by the
Commission have been answered, the Chair closes the public hearing.
8. The Commission next may discuss the agenda item among them
selves and at the end of this discussion a motion is made and seconded to
approve, disapprove, modify, continue or return the item to the staff for
further review.
9. The Chair then moves to the next item listed on the public hearing
agenda.
D. Speakers shall give their name to the Chair before presenting their
material; argument shall be kept to non-repetitive essentials; and
discussion of personalities shall not be tolerated.
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E. The Planning Commission will not hear any scheduled agenda item when
significant new materials are presented at a Planning Commission hearing
that have not been reviewed by the staff and entered into the staff report.
In such cases the agenda item will be continued to the next regularly
scheduled Planning Commission public hearing date.
New materials must be deposited in the Department of Community
Development office ten (10) days prior to the Planning Commission public
hearing for which the materials are intended.
10. Agenda, Staff Reports and Minutes for Regular Meetings.
A. A copy of the agenda for every regular meeting of the Planning
Commission shall be sent to each member not less than seven (7) days
prior to the date of the meeting at which such agenda is to be considered.
B. Staff reports prepared for each agenda item by staff, will be sent to
Planning Commission members not less than seven (7) days prior to the
date of the meeting at which such staff report will be considered. Both
agendas and staff reports will be made available to applicants and the
public in the same time frame.
C. Minutes of all public meetings shall be kept and made part of a permanent
public record along with applications made under provisions of law and the
complete files of proceedings and actions taken in connection therewith.
The Secretary shall provide the Commission with a set of minutes of the
previous meeting which shall be sent to each Planning Commission
member. These minutes shall be considered for approval by the
Commission at a regularly scheduled public meeting and upon approval
shall become part of the official record of the action of the Commission.
Although a recording shall be made for each workshop meeting, a
prepared set of minutes of these meetings is not necessary.
11. Recording of Meetings
All workshops, regular and special public meetings of the Planning Commission
shall be recorded on a recording machine.
12. Temporary Committees
The Chair of the Planning Commission shall have full power to create temporary
committees of one or more members and to appoint the members of such
committees, charged with such duties as examination, investigation and inquiry
relative to one or more subjects of interest to the Commission. No temporary
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committee shall have the power to commit the Commission to the endorsement
of any plan or program without its submission to the full body of the Commission.
13. Code of Conduct
A. Prohibited Acts. Members of the Planning Commission are prohibited
from:
1. Acting in a manner which would result in inefficiency, neglect,
of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance in office.
2. Acting in a manner to intentionally disrupt Commission meetings.
3. Missing 25% or more of the regularly scheduled meetings and
workshops in a 12-month period without such absence being excused by
the Commission.
4. Using his or her position to secure special privileges or exemptions
for himself, herself, or others.
5. Directly or indirectly giving or agreeing to receive compensation,
gifts, rewards, or gratuities from any source, except the City of Spokane
Valley, for a matter connected with or related to the services as a member
of the Planning Commission, unless otherwise provided by law.
6. Accepting employment or engaging in business or professional
activities that he or she might reasonably expect would require or induce
said member to disclose confidential information acquired by reason of his
or her seat on the Planning Commission.
7. Disclosing confidential information gained by reason of his or her
membership on the Planning Commission or using such information for his
or her personal gain or benefit.
14. Conflict of Interest
A. Any Commissioner having a direct or indirect interest in, or who would
benefit from any matter, shall disclose this interest and shall, if deemed
appropriate by that commissioner or required by law, refrain from
participating or voting on the matter at hand.
B. No member may participate or vote on a matter at hand unless the
member has been in attendance at all public hearings regarding such
matter or has listened to the taped recording of the public hearing and
reviewed the written record of the matter in question.
15. Appearance of Fairness
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A. The Commission shall adhere to the applicable requirements of the
appearance of fairness doctrine.
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENT:
That the undersigned Secretary of the Spokane Valley Planning Commission does
hereby certify that the above and forgoing by-laws have been duly adopted by the
members of said Commission as the by-laws of said Commission.
Date adopted:
ATTEST:
BY:
(Name of the Secretary), Secretary
Planning Commission
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