APPENDIX B
RULES TO GOVERN THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS OF THE MARION COUNTY AREA ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Pursuant to the provisions of ORS 197.160(2), ORS 215.046(1) and (2), and Statewide Planning Goals and Guidelines Authorized by ORS 197.040(2)(a) and (b) the following rules were adopted by the Board of Commissioners on ____
ARTICLE I. AUTHORITY
The Marion County Area Advisory Committees were created by the Marion County Board of Commissioners.
ARTICLE II. PURPOSE
The purpose of these bylaws, the Area Advisory Committee, and the Citizen Involvement Program is to ensure the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process.
ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP
A. Each Area Advisory Committee shall consist of no fewer than seven and no more than 20 members who shall be appointed by the Board of Commissioners for two-year terms or until their respective successors are appointed.
B. A member of an Area Advisory Committee shall be a resident of the Area Advisory Committee Study Area of which he/she is a member. Maps of the Area Advisory Committee Study Area boundaries are located in the Planning Office.
C. Any vacancy shall be filled by the Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners may remove any member for misconduct or nonperformance of duty. Unexcused absences from three consecutive meetings or unexcused absences from more than 50 percent of such meetings held during a calendar year constitutes a nonperformance. An excused absence may be obtained by contacting the Chairman of the Area Advisory Committee or Planning Department Office at least 24 hours prior to any scheduled meeting of the Committee.
D. Members of the Area Advisory Committees shall serve without compensation.
E. In considering new members to the Area Advisory Committee, the Board of Commissioners shall:
(1) Utilize available media to notify persons of the opportunity to serve on the committees.
(2) Appoint members broadly representative of geographic, occupational, age, sex and minority representation, always striving for a balance of input.
(3) Publicize appointments and individually notify applicants of the selections.
(4) Provide the opportunity for the Area Advisory Committees to recommend additional members.
ARTICLE IV. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
A. The Board of Commissioners shall:
(1) Adopt and publicize a program for citizen involvement that clearly defines the procedures by which the general public will be involved in the ongoing land use planning process in accordance with recommendations of the Committee for Citizen Involvement.
(2) Assure that technical assistance and information necessary to reach policy decisions is available in a simplified, understandable form at a location easily accessible to the Committee.
(3) Respond to recommendations from the Area Advisory Committee by providing a written record of the rationale used to reach land use policy decisions.
(4) Obtain and/or provide as a component of the planning budget adequate human, financial and informational resources to make citizen involvement an integral part of the planning process.
(5) Utilize local libraries or other public places easily accessible to the public to display and disseminate information which would assist citizens to identify and comprehend the issues.
B. The Planning Commission shall:
(1) Provide the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process.
(2) Refer proposals for land conservation and development to those affected Area Advisory Committees.
(3) Allow sufficient time for the Area Advisory Committee to review and report prior to formal action on any land conservation and development action within their respective area and any other that the Commission deems appropriate.
(4) Consider recommendations and reports from the Area Advisory Committees in formal actions before the Commission.
(5) Provide the Area Advisory Committees a written record of the rationale used to reach land use policy decisions.
(6) Meet annually with the Committee for Citizen Involvement to evaluate and update the Citizen Involvement Program.
(7) Utilize local libraries or other public places easily accessible to the public to display and disseminate information that would assist citizens to identify and comprehend the issues.
C. The Committee for Citizen Involvement shall:
(1) Assist in developing a Citizen Involvement Program to create opportunities for participation of a broad cross-section of people in land use planning.
(2) Assist in implementing the citizen involvement program, although the Committee for Citizen Involvement need not be involved in the actual day-to-day process for meeting the citizen involvement implementation.
(3) Evaluate the success of the Citizen Involvement Program and suggest new approaches.
D. The Area Advisory Committees shall:
(1) Have the opportunity to be involved in all phases of the planning processes.
(2) Receive, review and report on any proposal for land conservation and development within the Committee’s study area in accordance with subsection (a) through (c) of this section.
(a) Prior to any formal action, the Area Advisory Committees shall receive from the Planning Director applications, policy proposals and other such proposals as the Planning Director and Board of Commissioners deem appropriate for Area Advisory Committee review.
(b) In reviewing any proposal, the Area Advisory Committees shall take into account the following criteria:
(i) The Oregon Revised Statutes as they relate to land use planning.
(ii) The goals and guidelines for land use planning of the State Land Conservation and Development Commission.
(iii) The Marion County Comprehensive Plan including its goals, policies and map.
(iv) The procedures as outlined in the Marion County Citizen Involvement Program.
(v) The ordinance adopted by Marion County relative to the development of land (MCC Titles 16 and 17); and other such ordinances as adopted by the Board of Commissioners.
(vi) The precedent established by previous and similar applications.
(vii) The demonstration of public need.
(viii) The surrounding land uses.
(ix) The use of alternative sites.
(x) The appropriateness of the proposed site design.
It is recognized that the above criteria listing may not in every case apply to the proposals submitted to the Committee. The Committee shall determine relevance of these criteria as they relate to specific proposals being reviewed by the Committee.
(c) The minutes of the meetings shall constitute the Committee’s official report on proposals and be submitted to the Planning Director for inclusion in the staff report prior to formal consideration by the Board of Commissioners or Planning Commission. All reports and supplementary material shall be kept on file at a local library or other public place easily accessible to the public.
(3) Report to the Committee for Citizen Involvement periodically on the citizen involvement program and activities.
(4) Utilize available media to inform the public of their activities and solicit public opinion.
(5) Provide assistance to Federal, State and regional agencies and special purpose districts.
(6) Utilize local libraries or other public places easily accessible to the public to display and disseminate information that would assist citizens to identify and comprehend the issues.
E. The Planning Staff shall:
(1) Assist the Committee for Citizen Involvement in developing the Citizen Involvement Program.
(2) Implement the Citizen Involvement Program as adopted by the Board of Commissioners.
(3) Provide technical information and assistance to the Area Advisory Committee.
(4) Collect, analyze, and evaluate citizen input from the AAC and propose alternative planning solutions.
(5) Submit alternative planning solutions to the AAC based on the evaluation of citizen input.
(6) Conduct annual workshops for education of AAC members in land use planning.
(7) Assist AACs in conducting meetings as requested by the AAC.
(8) Provide, as requested, any other assistance necessary for the Board of Commissioners, Planning Commission, Committee for Citizen Involvement, or Area Advisory Committees to meet their responsibilities with respect to citizen involvement.
F. The General Public shall:
(1) Be afforded the opportunity to be involved in all phases of the planning process as provided for the County Citizen Involvement Program.
(2) Have established the Area Advisory Committee as the primary public forum, but also have the opportunity for direct input at all levels of planning.
ARTICLE V. ORGANIZATION
C. Each Area Advisory Committee shall select from among its members a chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary whose terms shall be for one year, and the committee may create and fill such other offices as it may determine.
D. The Chairperson of the Area Advisory Committee shall be presiding officer at all Area Advisory Committee meetings. The Chairperson or Secretary shall be authorized to sign all documents on behalf of the committee.
E. The Vice-Chairperson shall be the presiding officer in the absence of the Chairperson.
F. The Secretary shall be responsible for the preparation of the Committee minutes.
G. The Area Advisory Committees may establish such subcommittees as they deem advisable and assign each subcommittee specific duties or functions. The Chairperson of the Area Advisory Committee shall designate the members of each subcommittee and shall name the chairperson of each subcommittee. Notwithstanding the power granted to the Chairperson herein, the Committee may, by simple majority vote exercise such power.
ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS
A. All Area Advisory Committee meetings shall be open to the public and be publicized by the appropriate method.
B. The Committee shall hold such meetings as the committee and/or the Board of Commissioners deem necessary.
C. Special meetings may be held, provided each member is notified at least three days in advance.
D. A quorum shall consist of 50 percent of the members of the Committee but not less than four. Should there not be a quorum present, the members present shall adjourn to the next regular meeting or an earlier date. Any meeting conducted in the absence of a quorum shall not be an official meeting of the Committee, and any recommendation or action taken by the group of members not constituting a quorum shall constitute a recommendation of the individual members only and shall not constitute a recommendation of the Committee.
E. The presiding officer of the Committee may limit the time during which persons appearing before the Committee may speak, provided that the minimum limit shall not be less than one (1) minute per person and that said officer shall announce the time limit prior to opening the meeting to the particular items on the agenda to which the time limit applies.
F. The order of business at all meetings shall be as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) hereunder, the order of business shall be as follows:
(a) Roll call.
(b) Approval of minutes of previous meeting.
(c) Communication to the Committee.
(d) Consideration of matters presented by the Planning Department.
(e) Other business.
(f) Adjournment.
(2) The Chairperson of the Committee may alter the order of business designated in subsection (F)(1) of this section to better serve the convenience of the applicants, officials of agencies who are called upon to testify, and the general public.
G. The minutes of the Area Advisory Committee shall include:
(1) Type of meeting being held.
(2) Date, time and place of the meeting.
(3) Roll call.
(4) The person making and seconding motions.
(5) Summary of discussion and presentation.
(6) The outcome of any vote and the method of voting.
(7) The signature of the Secretary and Chairperson upon approval of the minutes.
(8) Any other information deemed appropriate in accordance with the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised.
ARTICLE VII. VOTING
A. Voting on all docket and other items shall be by roll call, voice vote or other method as deemed appropriate by the Chairperson.
B. Each voting member of the Committee shall be entitled to vote at all regular and special meetings of the Committee, except that any actual or potential interest shall be disclosed at the meeting of the Committee where the action is being taken.
C. The Chairperson of the Committee or the presiding officer shall, before the vote is taken, state the question before the Committee in exact terms, and shall announce the decision of the Committee after each vote.
ARTICLE VIII. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
In cases not provided for by these rules, the Committee shall be governed by the law and practices laid down in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised.
ARTICLE IX. AMENDMENTS AND SUSPENSION OF BYLAWS
No rule shall be altered without the concurrence of the Board of Commissioners and no additional rule or rule amendment shall be made without the giving of at least 30 days’ notice to the members of the Area Advisory Committees.