There is hereby created a Planning Commission, also to be known
and to act as a Zoning Commission, for the City of Weatherford, which
commission shall consist of five citizens of the City as hereinafter
provided. The members thereof shall be nominated and appointed solely
with reference to their fitness and without reference to party affiliations
and shall serve without compensation, except as hereinafter provided.
The members of the Planning Commission shall hold office for
a term of three years, with the exception that in the first instance
two shall be appointed to serve a term of one year, two for a term
of two years, and one for a term of three years. Appointments thereafter
shall be made for a term of three years, except that when a vacancy
occurs the appointment to fill said vacancy shall be made to fill
the unexpired term.
The Mayor and the City Engineer shall be ex-officio members
of the Planning Commission, but shall receive no compensation other
than their fixed salaries as said officials.
[Amended 10-29-2010,
Ordinance 2010-04 § 4]
Three members of the City Planning Commission, or Zoning Commission,
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Provided,
however, that no action shall be taken and be binding upon the Commission
unless concurred in by not less than a majority of all members comprising
the Commission.
The Mayor shall appoint the members of the City Planning Commission,
or Zoning Commission, subject to approval and confirmation by the
Board of City Commissioners.
The members of the Planning Commission, or Zoning Commission, shall meet within two weeks after their appointment and confirmation, and shall organize by electing from their members, a chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary, each of whom shall serve for a period of one year, or until their respective successors are elected; and the Commission shall adopt, from time to time, such by-laws, rules, regulations and amendments thereto as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of Sections 18-1 to 18-9 of this chapter.
The members of the Planning Commission shall serve without pay,
and it shall be the duty of the Commission to prepare, plans for the
betterment of the City as a place of residence or for business. It
may consider and investigate any subject matter tending to the development
and betterment of the City, and make recommendations as it may deem
advisable concerning the adoption thereof, to any department for the
City government, and for any purpose make or cause to be made surveys,
maps or plans. The Planning Commission shall have the power and authority
to employ engineers, attorneys, clerks and a secretary, or any other
help deemed necessary, subject to the approval of the City Commission.
The salaries and compensation of any Planning Commission employees
shall be fixed by the City Commission and shall be paid out of the
City treasury as other officers and employees. The necessary expenses
incurred by the Commission shall be appropriated and paid out of the
City treasury as other legal expenses of the City, but in no event
may the Planning Commission be authorized to create a deficiency.
1.
Before final action may be taken by any city or department thereof
on the location, construction or design of any public building, statue,
memorial park, parkway, boulevard, street, alley, playground, public
ground, or bridge, or the change in the location or grade of any street
or alley, the question shall be submitted to the Planning Commission
for investigation and report. County and school district may be exempted
from the payment of a fee to obtain any license or permit required
by a zoning, building, or similar ordinance of the City of Weatherford.
2.
All plans, plats, or replats of land laid out in lots or blocks,
and the streets, alleys or other portions of the same, intended to
be dedicated to public or private use, within the corporate limits
of the City, shall first be submitted to the Planning Commission for
its approval or rejection. Before said plans, plats, or replats shall
be entitled to be recorded in the office of the County Clerk, they
shall be approved by the Weatherford City Commission. It shall be
unlawful to receive or record any such plan, plat, or replat in any
public office unless the same shall bear thereon, by endorsement or
otherwise, the approval of the City Commission. The disapproval of
any such plan, plat, or replat by the City Commission shall be deemed
a refusal of the proposed dedication shown thereon.
3.
The Planning Commission may exercise jurisdiction over subdivision
of land and adopt regulations governing the subdivision of land within
its jurisdiction. Any such regulations, before they become effective,
shall be approved by the City Commission and shall be published as
provided by law for the publication of ordinances. Such regulations
may include provisions as to the extent to which streets and other
ways shall be graded and improved and to which water, sewer, and other
utility mains, piping, or other facilities shall be installed as a
condition precedent to the approval of the plat. The regulations may
provide for a tentative approval plat before such installation. Any
such tentative approval shall be revocable for failure to comply with
commitments upon which the tentative approval was based and shall
not be entered on the plat. In lieu of the completion of any improvements
or utilities prior to the final approval of the plat, the Planning
Commission may accept an adequate bond with surety, satisfactory to
the Commission, to secure for the City the actual construction and
installation of the improvements or utilities at a time and according
to specifications fixed by or in accordance with the regulations of
the Commission, and further conditioned that the developer will pay
for all material and labor relating to the construction of the improvements.
The City may enforce said bond by all appropriate legal and equitable
remedies. Nothing in this section shall be construed as granting to
the City or Planning Commission the power to direct any public utility
to extend its services to any particular area.
4.
The City of Weatherford, which contains large areas of rural land
not served by water and sewer facilities by the City, shall authorize
the use of private roadways in either platted or unplatted areas and
shall issue building permits to property owners whose property is
abutting upon the private roadways but do not comply with standards
as provided for dedicated streets, subject to the following conditions:
a.
The private roadway easement shall be at least 50 feet in width;
and
b.
The property abutting upon the private roadway shall contain not
less than two acres; and
c.
The property shall be more than 1/4 mile from sewer and water facilities
furnished by the City; and
d.
The private roadway shall not be dedicated to the public but reserved
for future and, until such future dedication, shall be the private
roadway for the owners of the abutting property; and
e.
The private roadway shall be maintained by the owners of the property
within subdivision; and
f.
The City shall have no responsibility for the maintenance or repair
of the private roadway; and
g.
If the property is platted, there shall be emblazoned on the face
of the plat, clearly conspicuous, a notice that the streets and drives
have not been dedicated to the public and that the streets shall be
maintained by the private property owners within the subdivision.
Said streets shall always be open to police, fire and other official
vehicles of all state, federal, county, and City agencies; and
h.
Every deed shall clearly acknowledge that the roadway is private
and not maintained by the City; and
i.
Prior to the sale of any parcel of land in the subdivision, a conspicuous
shall be posted at the entrance to the subdivision: "Private roadway
not maintained by the City of Weatherford." At any time after the
City permits the use of said private roadway, a petition of the owners
of at least 60% of the area of the land to improve and dedicate the
street shall bind all of the owners thereby to permanently improve
the street or roadway in compliance with the requirements of the City
of Weatherford; and
j.
The Planning Commission may require the developer of such property
to reserve appropriate utility easement for water, sewer, and any
other utility installations as may be required for present and future
development.
