City of Walker

(a) Established. The Planning Commission shall be the board appointed by the City Council as provided in Minn. Stats. § 462.354, as it may be amended from time to time.

(1) The Mayor, with the approval of the Council, shall appoint a planning commission of five members. Two members shall be a city councilmember, at least two members shall be a City of Walker resident and one member may be a property owner in the city limits.

(2) Commission members shall be appointed for a term of three years. A commission member shall not be eligible to serve more than three consecutive three-year terms except in the case of elected members appointed by the city council shall not have a term limit. Terms of office shall be staggered so that at least two, but no more than three, commission members' terms of office expire each year. A member's appointment will be terminated 30 days after a respective property interest expires. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of the original term. In the case that the city receives no qualified applicants and a member whose term has expired is interested in remaining on the commission the mayor, with the approval of the council may re-appoint until at which time the city receives a qualified applicant for the seat.

(3) The commission shall meet at least once a month.

(4) The commission shall elect a chair and vice-chair from its members.

(b) Duties. Duties of the planning commission under this chapter shall be the following:

(1) To hold hearings after proper public notices in the official newspaper and individual notice by regular mail of any property owners within 350 feet of any land proposed to be used in any manner or for any purpose for which a conditional use permit, amendment, or rezoning is required by this chapter. Such notices shall be given at least ten days before the hearing date.

(2) To provide within the required time frame the following:

a. Recommendation to the city council regarding requested zoning district boundary changes or amendments to this chapter.

b. Review and recommend for approval or denial of proposed preliminary plats or proposed preliminary CIC plats and recommendations on final plats and final CIC plats to the city council.

c. Review and recommend for approval or denial of all metes and bounds property divisions within the city to the city council.

d. Review and make recommendations for approval or denial of requests for conditional use permits, and explanations for the basis for the decision in findings to the city council.

e. Periodical review of the zoning map and this chapter to determine their role in shaping the growth of the community and to recommend changes to the city council of these documents to guide growth and current land use toward the goals of the comprehensive plan.

f. Recommend on a timely basis that the city council review the comprehensive plan when appropriate.

(3) To keep a record of its proceedings, notifications, and the findings of fact for its actions.

(c) Attendance of members. It shall be the duty of each individual member to be present at all meetings of the planning commission and board of adjustments and appeals. More than three absences in any one-year period may be grounds for replacement by the city council.

(Code 2000, § 154.127; Ord. of 10-8-1998; Ord. No. 2012-04, 2-6-2012; Ord. No. 2015-01, 12-7-2015 )

 The Planning Commission is a five member board of community residents appointed by the City Council. It is an advisory directly to the City Council with additional powers and duties given by state statute and by City ordinance. It is the duty of the Planning Commission to prepare and recommend to the City Council for adoption a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the City and to recommend amendments of this plan from time to time. It is also the duty of the Planning Commission to recommend to the City Council reasonable and practicable means for putting into effect the comprehensive plan. Such means include a zoning ordinance which includes a zoning map, a subdivision ordinance which provides for the control of plats and changes of lot lines, a plan for future streets, coordination of the normal public improvements of the City, a long term program of capital expenditures and such other projects as will accomplish the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan. The Zoning Ordinance gives the Planning Commission authority to issue Conditional Use Permits and provide recommendations to City Council to any changes proposed of the Zoning Ordinance including the zoning map. The Subdivision Ordinance gives the Planning Commission authority to approve preliminary plats and recommend approval or denial of final plats to the City Council. The Board of Adjustment is a committee of the Planning Commission comprised of the same five members from the Planning Commission body and meets concurrently with that board as needed. It is the duty of the Board of Adjustments to consider and approve or deny requests for variances from the Zoning Ordinance or appeals on decisions made by Planning Department staff.