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- Part I: Duties & Responsibilities
Part I: Duties & Responsibilities
Part I: The Role, Powers & Duties of the Planning Commission
January 14, 2008
1. Role of the Planning Commission:
The composition, conduct, role, and powers of the Planning Commission are discussed generally under Section 3 of Article 66-B, which is the part of the Maryland Annotated Code that governs local land use law and authority. While the Planning Commission’s level of authority within the city’s governmental structure is not specifically stated, it is clear from the nature of the Planning Commission’s duties and responsibilities that the Planning Commission serves as an “Administrative Body.” An Administrative Body oversees the application or implementation of the city’s adopted rules and regulations and is a part of the Executive Branch of local government. This role differs from the Board of Appeals, which is a “Quasi-Judicial Board” that acts like a court in deciding appeals, variances, and special exceptions to the city’s adopted rules and regulation. It also differs from the Mayor and City Council, which is the city’s “Legislative Body” and is empowered to adopt the city’s rules and regulations that the Planning Commission helps to administer.
Staff Functions
The staff serves in a similar function to the Planning Commission in that they administer and enforce the Zoning Ordinance, Building Codes, and Subdivision Regulations. Where the staff can only apply or enforce the specific requirements of the regulations, the Planning Commission has greater discretion, in that it can interpret the spirit and intent of the regulations and impose special conditions on development applications to further advance the spirit and intent of the regulations. However, the Planning Commission should not apply its discretionary authority too freely or arbitrarily. In most instances, the Zoning Ordinance will specify where and when discretionary conditions should be applied. The role of staff in respect to the Planning Commission is to provide professional and technical guidance to the Planning Commission in deciding how to apply its discretionary authority in the approval process.
A Visionary Body
Within its administrative role, the Planning Commission serves as a “visionary body” in thinking about the city’s future. Planning Commission members should always be thinking about how the city should grow and develop in the future. They should consider the long-range implications of current development trends and patterns and how they will affect the city’s overall quality of life, economic vitality or prosperity, and cost of living. That is why the Planning Commission is most intimately involved in the writing and approval of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission, as the primary steward of the Comprehensive Plan, should refer to it in deciding how to apply its discretionary authority to the development applications it reviews and approves. In that way, the plan serves as a guide for determining when and what type of special conditions should be applied to a proposed development. It is this “visionary” role that makes the Planning Commission a valuable advisory body to the Mayor and City Council. It is also why the Planning Commission is authorized to recommend approval to the Mayor and Council of land use regulations and amendments to those regulations. In that respect, the Planning Commission can consider itself the “administrative governor and defender of the Comprehensive Plan.”
2. Powers and Responsibilities of the Planning Commission:
Under Article 66-B (Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6), the Planning Commission is specifically empowered to:
January 14, 2008
1. Role of the Planning Commission:
The composition, conduct, role, and powers of the Planning Commission are discussed generally under Section 3 of Article 66-B, which is the part of the Maryland Annotated Code that governs local land use law and authority. While the Planning Commission’s level of authority within the city’s governmental structure is not specifically stated, it is clear from the nature of the Planning Commission’s duties and responsibilities that the Planning Commission serves as an “Administrative Body.” An Administrative Body oversees the application or implementation of the city’s adopted rules and regulations and is a part of the Executive Branch of local government. This role differs from the Board of Appeals, which is a “Quasi-Judicial Board” that acts like a court in deciding appeals, variances, and special exceptions to the city’s adopted rules and regulation. It also differs from the Mayor and City Council, which is the city’s “Legislative Body” and is empowered to adopt the city’s rules and regulations that the Planning Commission helps to administer.
Staff Functions
The staff serves in a similar function to the Planning Commission in that they administer and enforce the Zoning Ordinance, Building Codes, and Subdivision Regulations. Where the staff can only apply or enforce the specific requirements of the regulations, the Planning Commission has greater discretion, in that it can interpret the spirit and intent of the regulations and impose special conditions on development applications to further advance the spirit and intent of the regulations. However, the Planning Commission should not apply its discretionary authority too freely or arbitrarily. In most instances, the Zoning Ordinance will specify where and when discretionary conditions should be applied. The role of staff in respect to the Planning Commission is to provide professional and technical guidance to the Planning Commission in deciding how to apply its discretionary authority in the approval process.
A Visionary Body
Within its administrative role, the Planning Commission serves as a “visionary body” in thinking about the city’s future. Planning Commission members should always be thinking about how the city should grow and develop in the future. They should consider the long-range implications of current development trends and patterns and how they will affect the city’s overall quality of life, economic vitality or prosperity, and cost of living. That is why the Planning Commission is most intimately involved in the writing and approval of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission, as the primary steward of the Comprehensive Plan, should refer to it in deciding how to apply its discretionary authority to the development applications it reviews and approves. In that way, the plan serves as a guide for determining when and what type of special conditions should be applied to a proposed development. It is this “visionary” role that makes the Planning Commission a valuable advisory body to the Mayor and City Council. It is also why the Planning Commission is authorized to recommend approval to the Mayor and Council of land use regulations and amendments to those regulations. In that respect, the Planning Commission can consider itself the “administrative governor and defender of the Comprehensive Plan.”
2. Powers and Responsibilities of the Planning Commission:
Under Article 66-B (Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6), the Planning Commission is specifically empowered to:
- A. Serve a 5-year, staggered term, unless removed for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance
- B. Elect a Chairman annually
- C. Conduct monthly meetings
- D. Adopt Rules of Procedures (Bylaws) to govern the conduct of business, record-keeping, and other activities of the Planning Commission
- E. Accept and use donations and public or private grants to exercise its functions
- F. Request and receive information from city staff in a timely manner that may be necessary to fulfill its function
- G. Enter any land and conduct investigations or surveys as may be necessary to fulfill its function (this authority also extends to staff of the Planning Commission)
- H. Appoint employees, professionals, or consultants as may be necessary to fulfill its function (including the expenditure of funds approved for such purposes by the Mayor and City Council)
- I. Make, approve, and amend a Comprehensive Plan and recommend adoption to the Mayor and City Council
- J. Prepare and amend a Zoning Ordinance and recommend adoption to the Mayor and City Council (as governed in Section 4 of Article 66-B)
- K. When the Mayor and City Council have adopted a plan, the Planning Commission is authorized to approve the location, character, and extent of a proposed public improvement (publicly or privately owned street, square, park open space, public building or structure, and/or public utility)
- L. Prepare an annual report to the Mayor and City Council regarding recent changes in the community and their consistency with the Comprehensive Plan of the city and adjoining local governments
- M. Prepare and amend Subdivision Regulations and recommend adoption to the Mayor and City Council (as governed in Section 5 of Article 66-B)
- N. Approve or disapprove plats of subdivision (as governed in Section 5 of Article 66-B)
- O. After adoption of a Transportation Element in the Comprehensive Plan, the Planning Commission may conduct surveys and create a plat to show land that should be dedicated (or reserved for dedication) and acquired for future construction of proposed streets and highways (as governed by Section 6 of Article 66-B)
- The Planning Commission may further recommend such plat for approval by the Mayor and City Council
- P. Conduct public hearings, including the swearing in of witnesses as may be necessary to fulfill its function