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OCT 2 8 1966 Bou 66 rnE 26 TO: The Honorable Members DATE: October 16, 1986 FILE: of the Board of County Commissioners PLANNING & ZONING SUBJECT: COMMISSION QUORUM REQUIREMENTS Robert M. Keating, AICP 40K FROM: Director REFERENCES: P&Z Quorum Planning & Development DIS:IBMIRD It is requested that the information herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at their regular meeting of October 28, 1986. DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS: On July 16, 1986, the Board of County Commissioners approved -an amendment to the County's zoning ordinance relating to the composition and functioning of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Specifically, the amendment expanded tFie size of the Commission by two members, increasing it from five to seven. In addition, the amendment established a quorum for Planning and Zoning Commission meetings as five members rather than a simple majority of the Commission which would be four. The principal reason for taking these actions was to address the Board's concern that a significant number of Planning and Zoning Commission items were decided by only three voting members. At the October 9, 1986 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Commission voted unanimously, 7-0, to request that the Board of County Commissioners reduce the Planning and Zoning Commission's quorum requirements from five to four members. The Commission took this action after discovering that three members had conflicts with the October 23, 1986 meeting. The Commission also indicated that such a situation could be expected to occur in the future since all members have other interests which may occasionally conflict with Commission meeting dates. ALTERNATIVES & ANALYSIS: The Planning and Zoning Commission is the only County advisory group which has a quorum requirement exceeding a simple majori- ty of its members. In addition, the manner in which the. ordinance is structured requires that the quorum requirement apply to each issue to be considered. Consequently, although a quorum may be obtained for the meeting, a conflict of interest by one member on a particular item may preclude action from being taken on that item. In analyzing the quorum requirement, the staff has identified some potential problems. Because of public hearing notice requirements, many Planning and Zoning Commission items are advertised well in advance of scheduled meeting dates. If a quorum is not obtained at the time of a Commission meeting, no action can be taken, including action rescheduling advertised public hearings. This would result in a need to readvertise those public hearings, resulting in a four to five week delay 67