[HISTORY: Adopted by the Planning Board of
the Town of South Berwick 1-17-1975; amended in its entirety 12-16-2008. Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The decisions of the Planning Board (hereafter referred
to as the "Board") on applications will be based on conformance with
applicable legal standards, federal, state, and local laws and ordinances,
and the evidence and argument submitted into the record of the meetings,
whether in written, oral, or exhibit form. The Board may also rely
on the knowledge, experience, and observations of its members, and
matters of common knowledge.
B.
Scope.
(1)
These rules apply to the Board's conduct for the consideration
and action on:
(a)
Comprehensive Plan adoption and amendment public
hearings;
(b)
Proposed zoning amendment public hearings;
(c)
Subdivision applications (conceptual, preliminary,
and/or final reviews);
(d)
Site plan review applications (conceptual and/or
final reviews);
(e)
Shoreland zoning permit applications (conceptual
and/or final reviews);
(f)
Other development plans as required by the ordinance;
(g)
All public hearings; and
(h)
Any combination of the above.
(2)
These rules will guide the Board's conduct of all
other matters, as appropriate.
C.
This Board adopts Robert's Rules of Order and the
Town Administrative Code insofar as they are not superseded by this
document.
[Amended 2-2-2022]
A.
A Chair shall be elected annually in the month of
July by a majority vote of the Board. Said Chair shall serve for one
year and shall be eligible for reelection. The Chair shall preside
over meetings and hearings, appoint such committees as directed by
the Board and, with the authorization of the Board, shall affix their
signature in the name of the Board.
B.
A Vice Chair shall be elected annually in the month
of July by a majority vote of the Board. Said Vice Chair shall serve
for a one-year term and shall be eligible for reelection. Said Vice
Chairman shall preside in the absence of the Chair and shall have
full power of the Chair on matters which come before the Board during
the absence of the Chair.
A.
Regular meetings.
[Amended 3-23-2011]
(1)
Regular meetings shall be held the first and third
Wednesday of each month. Other meetings may be held on call of the
Chair, provided that notice is given to each member at least seven
calendar days prior to the time of such meetings. The Chair may, when
there is no time-sensitive business for the Board, cancel a meeting
provided notice is given to each member at least three calendar days
prior to the meeting date. In the event of extreme weather, the Chair
may cancel the meeting on the day of the meeting.
[Amended 2-2-2022]
(2)
Regular meetings of the Board are posted in a Board-approved
schedule available on the Town of South Berwick’s website. Regular
meetings are the first and third Wednesday of every month, with exceptions
as indicated on the posted schedule and as noted above.
[Amended 2-2-2022]
(3)
Regular meetings start at 7:00 p.m. No new agenda
items will begin after 9:30 p.m. except for scheduled workshops and
items pertaining to local ordinances, Board operations, and long-range
planning. The Board may vote to suspend the rules by four votes in
the affirmative.
(4)
At
9:00 p.m., the Board shall, if necessary, temporarily suspend consideration
of the agenda item currently under review in order to determine whether
remaining agenda items will likely be reached before 9:30 p.m. The
Board shall at that time notify those in attendance for those agenda
items which will not be reached that the items will be postponed until
the next regularly scheduled meeting or at another date and time determined
by the Board. Any item postponed under the provisions of this rule
shall be considered as unfinished business at the next regularly scheduled
meeting or at the meeting date specified by the Board.
B.
When a member is unable to act because of interest,
physical incapacity, absence or any other reason satisfactory to the
Chair, the Chair shall designate an alternate member to act in the
absent member's stead.
[Amended 2-2-2022]
C.
An alternate member may attend all meetings of the
Board and participate in its proceedings, but may vote only when designated
by the Chair to act as a member.
[Amended 2-2-2022]
D.
Any questions of whether a member shall be disqualified
from voting on a particular matter shall be decided by a majority
vote of the members, excluding the member being challenged.
E.
No meeting of the Board shall be held without a quorum,
consisting of three members.
F.
Records of resolutions, transactions, correspondence,
findings and determinations shall be deemed public and may be inspected
at reasonable times.
G.
Chairman. The Chairman shall preside over all meetings.
In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman shall preside.
H.
A simple majority of the members present shall constitute
a vote. However, when only three Board members are present, three
affirmative votes are required to approve any motion.
J.
Workshops. The purpose of workshops is to discuss
the Comprehensive Plan, Land Development Regulations (Zoning Ordinance),
Subdivision Regulations, and overall development review policies and
procedures. Since the purpose of workshops is for Board discussion,
input from the general public is permitted only at the discretion
of the Chairman.
K.
Special meetings.
(1)
Special meetings may be called by the Chairman or
a majority of the Board.
(2)
Notice of special meetings shall be served in person
or to the residence of each Board member at least 48 hours prior to
such a meeting.
(3)
Whenever possible, notice of a special meeting shall
be announced at a prior meeting of the Board.
(4)
Notification shall be provided to local representatives
of the media at the same time notification is provided to Board members.
L.
Site walks.
(1)
Site walks may be scheduled at the discretion of the
Board.
(2)
The purpose of a site walk is for collecting information
related to the physical factors of a site under consideration by the
Board.
(3)
The Board shall not make decisions during a site walk.
(4)
Members of the public may attend site walks, but are
not permitted to provide input or to ask questions unless allowed
by the Chairman. Such comments and questions shall only be provided
through the Chairman.
(5)
The applicant and/or its agent are expected to attend
a site walk. In the event that the applicant and/or its agent fails
to appear at a scheduled site walk, the Board may postpone said site
walk until another time, to be determined by the Chairman.
M.
Guidelines for the public at Board meetings and public
hearings.
(1)
General (notice to be posted for the general public).
(a)
Decisions made by the Board are "fact driven"
based upon testimony and material.
(b)
Attendance and participation by the public is
valued at all meetings and hearings.
(d)
At a public hearing, following an introduction
by the Chairman or other appropriate person, generally describing
the subject of the hearing, a person may speak as the Chairman calls
upon him/her.
(e)
State name and address for the record.
(f)
Address only the item before the Board at a
public hearing.
(g)
Direct all comments and questions through the
Chairman.
(h)
Submit any detailed data, reports, or statements
in writing seven days in advance.
(i)
Present a position as precisely and factually
as possible. Material should not be read but summarized.
(j)
Time limits may be imposed by the Chairman in
order to allow as many people as possible to participate.
(k)
Persons speaking on behalf of an organization
(i.e., committee, commission, neighborhood group) must state when
the group authorized them to speak on its behalf. Individuals and
representatives of organizations with comparable positions are encouraged
to be brief and not duplicate comments.
(l)
It shall be the discretion of the Chairman to
determine if a three-day period will be held open for comments following
a public hearing.
(m)
Please give courteous attention to other speakers
regardless of their views. Do not applaud or indicate pleasure or
displeasure with anyone's remarks. Anyone being disruptive may be
asked to leave by the Chairman.
(2)
Reconsideration of applications. Any application finally
acted upon and not thereafter reconsidered shall not again be considered
for a period of one year succeeding the Board's final action on the
original application if the Board determines it to be in the same
or substantially the same form.
(3)
Signatures of plans, findings of fact, and minutes.
N.
Consent agenda.
(1)
Scope of rule. The Board may act without a public
hearing to adopt any number of the following items consolidated for
its consideration into a consent agenda:
(a)
To approve minutes of meetings; and
(b)
To approve of the release/reduction of performance
guarantees so long as said release is supported by planning staff
and is unopposed by any persons; and
(c)
To determine whether proposed subdivision applications
are either major or minor subdivisions; and
(d)
To approve, with or without conditions, an amendment
to a previously approved application if the proposed amendment and
any conditions to it are supported by planning staff and are unopposed
by any persons; and
(e)
To adopt findings of fact or agree to sign Mylars
related to an application that has been previously approved by the
Board.
(2)
General provisions.
(a)
There will be no public testimony and no debate
or discussion by any member of the Board regarding any item on the
consent agenda. A member of the Board may seek clarification regarding
a consent agenda item from the planning staff.
(b)
The Board shall act on the items on the consent
agenda upon a single motion for approval supported by a vote in the
affirmative by a majority of the members of the Board present and
voting, provided that Board members may not vote on an item if they
did not participate in, or review the record of, the underlying Board
action.
(c)
The vote to adopt a motion to approve the consent
agenda constitutes the approval and adoption of each item included
just as if it had been acted upon individually. If any consent agenda
is not approved by the Board, each item included on it is deemed severed
and must be considered separately as items under old business.
(3)
Abstention from certain items. A Board member may
note his/her abstention on a particular item or items included on
the consent agenda, while still voting on the consent agenda itself.
The abstaining member should state on the record his or her reason
for abstaining (including because the member was absent during the
public hearing when the Board considered or voted on the item). A
Board member's abstention under this rule does not require severance
of the item for separate consideration unless the number of members
abstaining results in the absence of a quorum.
(4)
Removal of items from consent agenda for hearing.
(a)
An item proposed for action by consent agenda
may be removed from that agenda at the request of any member of the
Board.
(b)
Prior to taking up a motion for approval of
any consent agenda, the Chairman will entertain the request by any
member of the Board to sever an item from consideration in connection
with that agenda.
(c)
Upon a request, the item shall be removed from
the consent agenda, and the Board may act on the matter under old
business.
O.
Conflict of interest.
(1)
To preserve public confidence in the integrity of
the Board and the Town's governmental process, each Board member shall
have the duty to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
A Board member, therefore, shall ask to be excused from participation
in any matter before the Board in which the member's impartiality
might reasonably be questioned, including, but not limited to, instances
where the Board member is [Maine Statutory Conflict of Interest (Title
30-A, Section 2605)]:
(a)
An "officer, director, partner, associate, employee
or stockholder of a private corporation, business or other economic
entity" which is making the application to the Board; and
(b)
Is "directly or indirectly the owner of at least
10% of the stock of the private corporation or owns at least a ten-percent
interest in the business or other economic entity"; or
(c)
The Board member is representative of a party
to a matter before the Board.
(2)
If excused from participation in a matter, a Board
member may not sit with the Board during its consideration of the
matter.
(3)
In no instance shall a Board member be excused from
deliberations and voting on an item or issue merely due to his/her
unwillingness to vote on the issue at hand when no conflict of interest
exists.
P.
Ex parte (outside) communications. Members of the
Board shall not discuss applications with any involved party (applicant,
property owner, developer, neighbor, opponent, supporter, interested
citizen, etc.) except at Board meetings. This is a legal requirement
to ensure the Board members remain neutral until all information is
presented, to ensure that all Board members receive the same input
from all interested parties, and to ensure that all information presented
to the Board is subject to cross examination by people with different
opinions.
These bylaws may be amended by majority vote
of the members, provided that such amendment is read at two successive
regular meetings.
A.
The Board shall perform such duties and exercise such
powers as are provided by ordinances of the Town of South Berwick,
the laws of the State of Maine and laws and regulations of the federal
government.
B.
The Board may obtain goods and services necessary
to its proper functions within the limits of appropriations made for
the purpose.
