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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSC Planning Commissoin Rules of Proceedings 2010DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING COUNTY OF SUFFOLK STEVE LEVY SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE RECEIVED BAR 15 a)10 ~oufhold Town Cle~J THOMAS ^. ISLES, A.I.C.P. DIRECTOR OF PLANNING March 12, 2010 To Whom it May Concern: As per ZSR-10-10 of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, please see the attached Rules of Proceedings that govern the Commission proceedings in accordance with Article X1V, Section A 14-2 of the Suffolk County Administrative Code. LOCATION MAILING ADDRESS H. LEE DENNISON BLDG. - 4TH FLOOR P.O. BOX 6100 (631) 853-51g0 100 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-0099 TELECOPIER (631) 853-4044 RULES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION RULES GOVERNING THE MEETINGS 1. Rules of Order Ail meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Roberts' Rules of Order, latest edition, except as modified herein. 2. Schedule of Meetings The Commission shall schedule twelve (12) mgular meetings annually. Regular Meetings shall be held the first Wednesday of the month at noon at the Riverhead County Center, the Hauppauge County Center or another appropriate venue. The date or place of the meeting may be changed by a vote of the Commission. All regular meetings of the Planning Commission shall be open to the public, however, they are not public hearings as that term is defined by state and county law. 4~ Special Meetings may be called as necessary by the Chair or on the written request of three (3) Commission members. Such call or request shall state the purpose of the meeting and the members shall be advised of the purpose. Date, time and place shall be set by the Chair after it is determined that a quorum will be present. Annual Meeting shall be the regular meeting in February of each year which will be held not later than February 15 in accordance with Section A 14-1 of the Administrative Code. At this time the Commission shall establish the calendar of regular meetings for the year, and transact such other business as may properly come before such meeting. At this meeting, the Commission will elect for a one year term a Chair, a Vice- Chair, Secretary and other such officers as it may deem proper. Public Hearings shall be held by the Commission when required under sections A-14-8, A-14-19 and A- 14-21 of the Administrative Local Laws of Suffolk County. Notice of the hearings shall be provided in accordance the requirements of the Administrative Local Laws. 7. Quorum A majority of the fifteen (15) seats of the Planning Commission shall constitute a quorum thereof. 8. Absence of a Quorum In the absence of a quorum the meeting will be canceled or rescheduled. 9. Decisions The Commission may only take an action on a referral with the approval of at least eight (8) Commission members. If a Commission member chooses to abstain on a recorded vote, the Chair will allow the abstaining Commission member to give the mason for their abstention if they wish to do so. 10. Notice of Meeting Notice of all meetings shall be conspicuously posted at the office of the Planning Department and a tentative agenda shall also be posted on the County Website prior to scheduled meetings. 11. Seating at Meetings Only members of the Planning Commission, the Director of Planning, the Deputy Director and the Assistant County Attorney assigned to the Commission shall be seated at the Commissioners' table at a meeting of the Commission. Members of the public and other staff members are not to seat themselves at the Commissioners table, but will find seating elsewhere in the room to insure that there is no confusion as to who are Commissioners and to insure that there will be a smooth flow of Commission business. ADOPTED 3/3/10 12. Guests at Meetings The chair shall request names of guests appearing at meeting. 13. Guest Speakers The Planning Commission may invite any public officials, government employees, or professionals in planning-related fields to participate in a meeting. 14. Participating in Meetings of Planning Commission Any request to address the Planning Commission on any matter including subdivision or zoning referrals must be submitted prior to the meeting. Each request shall be submitted on a card identifying the person and/or organization and topic. Each speaker shall be allotted three (3) minutes. An individual who has requested the opportunity to address the Planning Commission may relinquish his/her time to another speaker. However, no speaker may speak for more than six (6) minutes. 15. Submission of written materials for consideration by the Planning Commission: Only such written information relating to a specific application before the Commission which has been acknowledged by the referring agency shall be considered at Commission meetings. 16, Referrals The Commission will only accept subdivision and zoning referrals submitted by the Referral Agency in accordance with the rules and regulations in the Suffolk County Planning Commission Guidebook. The Guidebook also contains the Commission's general policies for making decisions on its referrals and details about its inter-municipal agreements. 17. Request for Services The Planning Commission may, on request of any town or village board or any school board in Suffolk County, furnish the town, village or school board with requested planning services. The Commission may impose such charge for its services as may be authorized by local law. Any request for Planning Department services must be made by resolution of the Town Board, School Board or Municipal Boards. No request for planning services will be undertaken without vote by the Planning Commission at a regular or special meeting. All requests for planning services shall be submitted to the Planning Commission in writing stating the nature of the planning service requested. 18. Unfinished Business Ail items of Unfinished Business shall appear on each agenda until resolved. 19. Nominating Committee A Nominating Committee of the Planning Commission shall be selected from its own members no later than the 15th day of November. The Nominating Committee shall be for the purpose of recommending a slate of officers of the Planning Commission pursuant to Section A 14-1 of the Suffolk County Administrative Code. The Nominating Committee shall present the slate of candidates no later than the 15th day of January. 20. Subcommittees and WorMng Groups The Commission may create additional committees or working groups as needed in order to accomplish the responsibilities of the Commission. The Chair may appoint members to the working groups or subcommittees subject to the approval of the Commission. ADOPTED 3/3/10 21. Comrnissioners'PublicCotnments Commission members should not speak publicly about any specific project or potential project within the Commission's jurisdiction. 22. Commissioners' Conversations }Vith Private Applicants To prevent any perceptions of impropriety, Commission members should not have any discussions with a private applicant about a particular project within the Commission's jurisdiction. 23. Recusal Ifa Commission member intends to recuse themselves from the consideration of a matter, they should not discuss the merits of the matter with any fellow Commission member. While the Commission is deliberating regarding the matter that is the subject of the recusal, the Commission member should leave the Commission table and either sit in the audience or leave the room~ 24. Regionally Significant Projects The Suffolk County Planning Commission intends to focus its time and staff resources on those land use decisions which potentially affect critical county-wide values and/or which, due to the characteristics of the parcel or the proposed project, are likely to have inter-community or county-wide impacts. To aid in internal resource allocation decisions, on July 2, 2008 the Commission adopted the following definition of a "regionally significant" project. Referrals meeting the "regionally significant" definition will be considered by the full Commission. At its discretion, staff may recommend that the Commission consider a referral that does not meet the definition but which staff considers significant. A "regionally significant" project is any municipal zoning or subdivision action which includes: 1. The adoption or amendment of a municipality's land use plan, the adoption or amendment by any agency of a comprehensive resource management plan, the adoption or amendment of a moratorium or the adoption or amendment of a municipality's comprehensive zoning regulations which may have significant inter-community or county-wide impacts; 2. Construction of new residential units that meet or exceed the following thresholds: a. (i) 50 units not to be connected (at the commencement of habitation) to existing community or public water and sewerage systems including sewage treatment works; b. (ii) 100 units to be connected (at the commencement of habitation) to existing community or public water and sewerage systems including sewage treatment works; 3. A project or action that involves the physical alteration of (20) acres; 4. Parking for 1,000 vehicles; 5. A facility or development with more than 100,000 square feet of gross floor area; Any Unlisted action, that exceeds 50 percent of any threshold in this section, occurring wholly or partially within or substantially contiguous to any publicly owned or operated parkland, recreation area or designated open space, including any site on the Register of National Natural Landmarks pursuant to 36 CFR Part 62, 1994 (see section 617.17 of this Part); or that has been proposed by the New York State Board on Historic Preservation for a recommendation to the State Historic Preservation Officer for nomination for inclusion in the National Register, or that is listed on the State Register of Historic Places Proposes any new mining, pipeline transportation, heavy manufacturing, electric power generation and transmission, chemical storage facility, waste treatment and disposal facility or the expansion of an ADOPTED 3/3/10 existing mining, pipeline transportation, heavy manufacturing, electric power generation and transmission, chemical storage facility, waste treatment and disposal facility. 8. Contemplates exposing the subsurface groundwater table for any purpose other than public water supply. Public and private wells are excluded from this provision. 9. Any action, that exceeds 50 percent of any threshold in this section, occurring wholly or partially within the five (5) east-end towns (Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, Southampton and East Hampton). 10. Any action, which exceeds 33 percent of any threshold in this section, occurring adjacent to any water body including, but not limited to the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound or any bay, channel, river, stream or estuary. ADOPTED 3/3/10