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Town of Bar Harbor, ME
Hancock County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (1) Index
[Amended 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10]
The Planning Board shall have all the authority and be subject to all the duties set out in the provisions of the Municipal Code.
A. 
The Board shall make land use decisions that are consistent with the Town's Comprehensive Plan and the Town's Land Use Ordinance.[1]
[Added 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10[2]]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 125, Land Use.
[2]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former Subsections A and B as Subsections C and D, respectively.
B. 
The Board shall consider staff reports, capacity statements, consultant reports, and citizen comments when making decisions.
[Added 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10]
C. 
The Planning Board may adopt bylaws, consistent with statutes and ordinances, governing its deliberations. In the absence of any other applicable rules, relates; ordinances or statutes, proceedings of the Board shall be governed by the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.
D. 
The Planning Board may request the Planning Department to obtain goods and services necessary to its proper function within the limits of appropriations made for the purpose.
[Amended 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10]
Members shall have:
A. 
Preferably, a working knowledge of the Land Use Ordinance of the Town of Bar Harbor.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 125, Land Use.
B. 
Experience with planning, architecture, law, civil engineering, geology, economics, construction, or related field but it is not critical (as these are skills that are available to the Planning Board from staff or hired consultants if necessary and from the applicant and their professional designers).
A general boards and committees application is available from the Town Clerk or at barharbormaine.gov. Applications should be returned to the Town Clerk for consideration by the Town Council Appointments Committee. The Appointments Committee will contact candidates with interview times and make their recommendation to the Town Council at the next Town Council meeting. The Town Council will vote on the nominations. It is best to attend the nominating meeting, in case Councilors have questions. Approved members will need to be sworn in by the Town Clerk and take an ethics training exam. Members cannot vote in their committee until these steps have been completed.
[Amended 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10]
This Board has seven members. All members must be Bar Harbor residents and registered voters. All members are voting members. No municipal officer may serve on this Board.
The term of each member shall be three years. There are no limits to the number of terms served. All appointments run from August 1 to July 31.
When there is a permanent vacancy, the Town Council shall, within 60 days of its occurrence, appoint a person to service for the unexpired term. When a vacancy occurs, the Planning Director shall immediately advise the Town Council in writing. The Board may recommend to the Town Council that the attendance provision be waived for cause, in which case no vacancy will then exist until the Town Council disapproves the recommendation.
All absences must be excused prior to the start of the meeting, and all attendance shall be recorded in meeting minutes. If a member missed more than 75% of the regular meetings within a twelve-month period, regardless of being excused, the member forfeits their membership on the Board.
All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public, and notice thereof shall be given that all members shall have reasonable opportunity to make plans to attend. Notices shall be posted on the bulletin board in the Town Hall, on the Town calendar, and on social media at least three days prior to the meeting.
The Chair shall call a meeting at least once a month unless there are no agenda items; however, the Board must meet a minimum of four times a year, including an organizational meeting. Meeting agendas shall maintain the following order:
A. 
Call to order with roll call.
B. 
Review of guidelines and conduct.
C. 
Public comments: up to 15 minutes.
D. 
Approval of meeting minutes.
E. 
Adoption of agenda.
F. 
Regular business.
G. 
Other business.
H. 
Board comments and requests for future agenda items.
I. 
Adjourn.
[Amended 11-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10]
No meeting of the Board shall be held without a quorum consisting of four members. The Board shall act by majority vote of the members present and voting.
A Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary should be elected at the first meeting of the Committee after August 1. The Chair is responsible for calling meetings, the meeting agenda, and leading meetings. The Vice Chair will take over the responsibilities for the Chair if the Chair is unable to preside over a meeting. The Secretary shall take minutes at each meeting and send approved minutes to the Town Clerk.
Bylaws may be adopted and amended only by the Town Council. The Board may suggest bylaws to the Town Council for its consideration.
The Board shall follow Robert's Rules of Order for all other procedures.
All Board members, voting and nonvoting, are subject to the Town-Council-approved social media policy found at barharbormaine.gov and in the Committee Handbook.