There shall be a Zoning Board of Appeals composed of five regular members, together with a panel of three alternate members, all of whom shall be electors of the Town. The alternate members and the regular members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be subject to the provisions of the General Statutes and the law relating to the disqualification of members of zoning authorities. The members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and of the panel of alternates shall serve without compensation and shall hold no other office of trust or emolument in the Town government. Service on committees of the Town government is not prohibited by this section, provided that such service does not create a conflict of interest as defined in the Town Code of Ethics.
The Selectmen shall, annually on or promptly after the first day of December, appoint the number of members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and of the panel of alternates to the Zoning Board of Appeals necessary to fill the vacancies occurring by reason of the expiration of the term of office of any such member or alternate. Such appointments shall be for a term of two years from the first day of December and until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. There shall be minority representation on the Board and on the panel of alternates in accordance with § 9-167a of the General Statutes.
On or promptly after the first day of December in each year, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall meet at the call of the First Selectman to choose one of its regular members to be Chairman and one of its regular members to be Secretary. The Chairman shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the Board; in the absence or disqualification of the Chairman, the Secretary shall assume all of the duties of the Chairman. The Secretary shall keep a record of the acts and resolutions of the Board, including the vote of each member upon any issue before it, and file such record in the office of the Town Clerk.
In the absence of a regular member at a meeting of the Board, the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall seat an alternate designated by an absentee regular member from the panel of alternates provided for under § C17-1 hereof. In the absence of such designation by an absentee regular member, or if a regular member shall recuse himself or herself or be disqualified under the provisions of the General Statutes relating to disqualifications of members of zoning authorities or by law, the Chairman shall designate and seat an alternate from the panel of alternates, but in designating and seating such alternate, the Chairman shall choose alternates in rotation so that the alternates chosen by the Chairman shall be seated as nearly an equal number of times as is possible. The minutes of the meeting shall record the availability of any alternate who cannot be seated in rotation by the Chairman. Alternate members shall have no vote unless seated for a regular member.
The Zoning Board of Appeals and the members of the panel of alternates when seated shall have all the powers and duties set forth in the General Statutes relating to Zoning Boards of Appeals and the voting on any issue or matter before it shall be in accordance with the provisions of the General Statutes.