HomeMy WebLinkAbout10a UPDATED DRAFT PC BYLAWS SEPT 19, 2022 Nilssen-KoanUPDATED DRAFT SEPTEMBER 19, 2022
See end of document for list of changes and justifications Green highlights indicate updates since
9/5/2022 distributed draft.
BYLAWSBY-LAWS
Of the Jefferson County, Washington Planning Commission
Amended X/X/XXXX
SECTION 1 - AUTHORITY: These bylawsby-laws are promulgated in compliance with the Washington
Planning Enabling Act, Chapter 36.70 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), 18.05.050 of the
Jefferson County Code (JCC), and Jefferson County Resolution No. 54-97Jefferson County Resolution
No. 54-97, which recognized the Jefferson County Planning Department (Department of Community
Development - DCD) and reconstituted a new Planning Commission. This Planning Commission is
advisory only and has no quasi-judicial authority.
SECTION 2 - MEMBERSHIP: The Planning Commission shall be comprised of nine members from
Jefferson County., and Members of the Planning Commission shall be appointed by the Board of
County Commissioners (Board) for a term of four years, which shall commence on March 18th., and
Eacheach commissioner district shall be equally represented on the Planning Commission. The chair of
the BoardJefferson County Board of Commissioners shall appoint members to the commission with
approval of a majority of the Board's members.
An appointment of a member shall be made from a list of applicants who shall submit a "Letter of
Intent" to the BoardBoard of County Commissioners stating their qualifications for serving on the
Planning Commission. VacanciesVacancy(s) shall be advertised at least twice in a legal newspaper of
record having county-wide circulation. The advertisement shall encourage individuals residing in the
specific commissioner district in which the vacancy occurs to apply.
Vacancies resulting from the expiration of terms of office shall be filled by appointments for a term of
four (4) years. Vacancies occurring for any reason other than the expiration of a term of office shall be
by appointment for the unexpired term of the office being filled.
In the event a Planning Commission member changes residence during their term, which moves them
into a different commissioner district, that member shall serve the remainder of their term. If through
redistricting a Planning Commissioner is moved into a different commissioner district, they shall remain
in office until their term expires. The vacant position in the appropriate district shall then be filled after
the term expires.
The chair of the Board of County Commissioners may remove a member of the Planning Commission
after a public hearing by the Board of County Commissioners. All Board members must approve the
removal. A member of the Planning Commission may be removed for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or
malfeasance.
Commented [1]: See end of document for list of
changes and justifications.
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ITEM 7
The chair of the Planning Commission may grant an excused absence or a leave of absence. "Excused
absence" is defined as an absence from one regular meeting. "Leave of absence" is defined as an
absence from two or more regular meetings. Two unexcused absences in a row from regularly
scheduled meetings shall be grounds for the Planning Commission to recommend to the Board of
County Commissioners that the individual be removed from the Planning Commission. Furthermore, a
member granted a leave of absence by the chair of the Planning Commission is not an active member.
Only active members shall constitute the current membership.
SECTION 3 - MEMBER'S RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: The duties and
responsibilities of the Planning Commission planning commission shall be as follows:
Because Jefferson County has created both a Planning Commission planning commission and
planning department (Department of Community Development - DCD), the Planning Commission will,
in accordance with RCW 36.70.040, assist the DCD in carrying out its duties, as outlined below.
The Planning Commissionplanning commission shall review the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan
and other planning documents to determine if the county's plans, goals, policies, land use ordinances
and regulations are promoting orderly and coordinated development within the county. The commission
shall make recommendations in cooperation with DCD concerning this to the board of commissioners.
The Planning Commissionplanning commission shall review land use ordinances and regulations of the
county and make recommendations in cooperation with DCD regarding them to the
board of commissioners.
The Planning Commissionplanning commission shall recommend priorities for and review studies of
geographic subareas in the county in cooperation with DCD.
All other county boards, committees, and commissions shall coordinate their planning activities, as they
relate to land use or the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan.
The Planning Commissionplanning commission may hold public hearings in the exercise of its duties
and responsibilities as it deems necessary.
The Planning Commissionplanning commission shall have such other duties and powers as heretofore
have been or hereafter may be conferred upon the commission by county ordinances or as directed by
resolution of the board of commissioners, the performance of such duties and exercise of such
authority to be subject to the limitations expressed in such enactments.
The Planning Commission shall report in all matters referred to it within the timelinetime line given in
County Resolution #54-97, which is forty (40) days, or within such additional time as may be specified
by the Board of County Commissioners. The report of the Planning Commission shall be advisory only.
SECTION 4 - OFFICERS: Officers of the Planning Commission shall be chair and vice chair.
Candidates for chair and vice chair shall be nominated from the floor annually at the first regular
ITEM 7
meeting in September from among its active members. Nominations require no “second.” The election
shall take place at the next scheduled meeting unless two-thirds (2/3) of currently seated (and active)
members vote at the nominating meeting to hold the election at the same meeting. Nominations from
the floor can also take place at the second/election meeting (if held).
In the absence of both the chair and vice chair at a meeting or workshop, members present shall elect
a temporary chair to perform those duties described by Section 5 of these bylawsby-laws. The member
elected shall only serve as temporary chair for that meeting or workshop.
SECTION 5 - OFFICERS' RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: The chair of the Planning
Commission shall: (1) preside at all meetings and execute the agenda of such meetings in an orderly
manner and (2) officially represent the commission before organizations or groups. The vice chair shall
officiate as chair in the chair's absence. When appropriate and necessary, the chair shall establish
committees and appoint members thereto. Committees are governed by the Open Public Meetings Act
(Chapter 42.30 RCW) and therefore require public notice of meetings and an audio record of such
meeting.
SECTION 6 - SECRETARY: The secretary shall be provided by the DCDPlanning Department. The
secretary's duties shall be to record the proceedings of all Planning Commission meetings. No member
of the Planning Commission shall be appointed secretary.
SECTION 7 - STAFF AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The DCDJefferson County Planning Department shall
provide staff to the Planning Commission. The designated county planning staff shall (1) prepare for
future meetings with the chair of the Planning Commission, (2) distribute agendas for meetings and
workshops, (3) prepare the Planning Commission budget, (4) account for and process expenditures, (5)
notify members by emaile-mail of workshops, and (6) where sufficient staff resources exist, act in any
other manner deemed necessary by the Planning Commission, such as providing technical advice or
developing plans, studies, or reports.
SECTION 8 - MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS: Meetings of the Planning Commission are subject to
the Open Public Meetings Act (OPA) (Chapter 42.30 RCW). Notification to the public of all meetings
shall be made through advertisement advertising in a legal newspaper of record with county-wide
circulation and on the Planning Commission website. The Planning Commission notices dates for the
upcoming year of all regularly scheduled meetings before the start of that year. Changes to this
schedule shall be noticed according to the OPA. Meetings requiring public notification include, but are
not limited to: (1) regular meetings, (2) special meetings, (3) public hearings, and (4) workshops, and
(5) retreats, and (5) committee meetings, or any meeting where a quorum of the Planning Commission
shall be present. Notification of public hearings will appear at least ten (10) days prior to a public
hearing. Workshops can be held on matters of discussion by approval of the Planning Commission with
notice to the public. If a meeting needs to be cancelled due to a lack of a quorum, a notice shall be
posted on the door of the meeting place.
Official action can take place at any regular meeting or public hearing. Official action may take place at
any other gathering of the Planning Commission where a quorum is present, as long as the agenda of
the meeting, including the topic of action, is included in the agenda and that agenda is posted at least
Commented [2]: Moved to section 8 "Meetings and
Workshops."
Formatted: Highlight
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Commented [3]: moved from next paragraph
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twenty-four (24) hours before the start of the meeting. No official action shall be taken at workshops.
Under the Open Public Meetings Act, “action” is defined broadly to include “the transaction of the official
business … including but not limited to receipt of public testimony, deliberations, discussions,
considerations, reviews, evaluations, and final actions.” If a meeting needs to be canceled due to a lack
of a quorum, a notice shall be posted on the door of the meeting place.
When appropriate and necessary, the chair shall establish committees and appoint members to them. If
made up of less than a quorum of the Planning Commission, committees are not governed by the Open
Public Meetings Act and therefore such committee meetings do not require public notice or an audio
record.
ThePlanning Commission is subject to the Open Public Meetings Act which generally requires that
meetings of the governing body be open to the public and that no conditions preventingprecedent to
attendance by the public, except for orderly conduct, may be imposed. Therefore, a county legislative
body shall not ban the use of recording devices or video cameras from the open portion of a meeting
held pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act. The county legislative body may impose restrictions on
the use of recording devices, but only to the extent necessary to preserve the orderly conduct of the
meeting.
EmailsE-mails between the members addressing matters before the Planning Commission could be
construed to be a public meeting, particularly if there was any response to such communication.
Therefore, all emailse-mails related to matters before the Planning Commission should be forwarded to
staff at the planning desk at pcommissiondesk@co.jefferson.wa.us for appropriate distribution.
SECTION 9 - CONDUCT: Except where in conflict with these bylawsBy-laws, Roberts Rules of Order
shall guide the conduct of all public meetings and hearings of the Planning Commission.
SECTION 10 - QUORUM: A majority of the Planning Commission membership, being not fewer than
(5) five, shall constitute a quorum for the consideration of most items of business, with a majority vote
of those present being sufficient to take action.
Comprehensive Plan cChanges, zZoning cChanges, changes to the Planning Commission bylawsBy-
Law Changes, Unified Development Code (UDC) changes and other site-specific approvals shall be by
the affirmative vote of not fewer than (5) five members - a majority of the total membership.
In the event of a challenge to a member or members of a decision-making body thatwhich would cause
a lack of a quorum or would result in a failure to obtain a majority vote as required by law, any such
challenged member(s) shall be permitted to fully participate in the proceeding and vote as though the
challenge had not occurred, if the member or members publicly disclose the basis for disqualification
prior to rendering a decision. Such participation shall not subject the decision to a challenge by reason
of violation of the appearance of fairness doctrine (RCW 42.36.090, Participation of challenged member
of decision-making body).
SECTION 11 - VOTING: All members are entitled to one vote. A vote shall be either (1) yayeah/yes, (2)
nay/no, or (3) abstain. An abstention per Roberts Rules of Order is not counted as a nay vote. If a
Commented [4]: Moved to previous paragraph.
Commented [5]: Language from civil attorney from
11/3/2021 PC packet.
Formatted: Highlight
ITEM 7
member recuses themselves, they shall leave the room and not take part in any of the discussion
pertaining to the matter before the Planning Commission. As per the Open Public Meetings Act, no
action can be taken by secret ballot.
All matters acted on shall be recorded as written motions. The Planning Commission shall not take any
action in the form of a consent agenda, other than the acceptance of documents pertaining to matters
that are not currently before the Planning Commission. The “action” in this case is the acceptance of
these documents such that a written motion of acceptance will be recorded into the minutes.
The chair is a Planning Commission member and is therefore allowed one vote on all issues.
Some matters before the Planning Commission (e.g., election of officers, approval of the Planning
Commission's minutes, setting dates and times for special meetings, etc.) are administrative and not
quasi-judicial in nature. Such administrative matters shall be decided by a majority vote of the members
present.
SECTION 12 - BUDGET: A preliminary budget for the Planning Commission shall be prepared by the
DCDJefferson County Planning Department. An itemized estimate of expenditures for the ensuing
calendar year shall be included in the preliminary budget.
The preliminary budget shall be reviewed by members at the earliest possible time so the members
may express any shortcomings in the budget and make a recommendation direct to the Board of
County Commissioners to address the Planning Commission's needs.
The budget shall become final in December without further review by the Planning Commission, unless
there is a substantial change. The budget and any amendments thereof shall be prepared in
accordance with requirements established by the Jefferson County Auditor.
SECTION 13 - CLAIMS FOR EXPENDITURES: All claims for expenditures for operating the Planning
Commission shall be made by DCD the Jefferson County Planning Department in accordance with
requirements established by the Jefferson County Auditor. All claims shall be reviewed by the Director
of the Department of Community Development and approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
Any requests to claim mileage, expenses for attending a conference, seminar, or similar session shall
be approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
SECTION 14 - APPEARANCE OF FAIRNESS: Application of the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine to
local land use decisions shall be limited to the quasi-judicial actions of local decision-making bodies as
defined in this section. Quasi-judicial actions of local decision-making bodies are those actions of the
legislative body, Planning Commissionplanning commission, hearing examiner, zoning adjuster, board
of adjustment, or boards which determine the legal rights, duties, or privileges of specific parties in a
hearing or another contested case processing. Quasi-judicial actions do not include the legislative
actions adopting, amending, or revising comprehensive, community, or neighborhood plans or other
land use planning documents or the adoption of area-wide zoning ordinances or the adoption of a
zoning amend that is of area-wide significance (RCW 42.36.010, Local land use decisions).
Commented [6]: New language regarding the recent
(and new) use of consent agendas to record PC receipt
of documents and other information.
Formatted: Highlight
Commented [7]: As no actions of the PC are quasi-
judicial, and all votes except for a few noted herein are
simple majority, this sentence is unnecessary.
Commented [8]: This rarely happens and should.
Formatted: Highlight
Commented [9]: Is any or all of this correct SOP?
Formatted: Highlight
Commented [10]: As per Civil Attorney Hunsucker in
PC packet 11/3/2021 - The Jefferson County Planning
Commission has no quasi-judicial capacity, so the
Appearance of Fairness Doctrine does not apply.
ITEM 7
In quasi-judicial actions, Members shall disclose any and all personal benefits, gains, advantages to
themselves, friends or immediate family; "Immediate family" means spouses, dependents, anyone
residing in the person's household, and anyone within three degrees of relationship by blood, marriage
or domestic partner. Even though Legislative decisions do not require disclosure as detailed in
paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section, Planning Commissioners may recuse themselves in Legislative
matters if the commissioner feels that, due to public perception or other consideration, the Planning
Commission's business would be negatively impacted.
No former Planning commissioner shall, within two years after his or her term on the Planning
Commission has ended, knowingly act as agent, consultant or attorney for anyone other than Jefferson
County in connection with any particular matter in which the county is a party, if the Planning
Commissioner participated personally and substantially in that particular matter while on the Planning
Commission.
A Planning Commissionerplanning commissioner who is a candidate for public office and who complies
with all provisions of applicable public disclosure and ethics laws shall not be limited from accepting
campaign contributions to finance the campaign, including outstanding debts; nor shall it be a violation
of the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine to accept such campaign contributions (RCW 42.36.050,
Campaign Contributions).
SECTION 1415 - REPORTS: Reports of official Planning Commission reviews or official
recommendations shall include only that which has been approved by a majority vote of the members
present as expressed in Section 10.
Drafts of reports of official Planning Commission reviews or official recommendations shall be reviewed,
corrected as necessary, and adopted by a majority vote of the Planning Commission members present.
Under exceptional circumstances, where time is of the essence, this rule may be suspended by a two
thirds (2/3) vote majority of the Planning Commissioners in attendance. Should this rule be suspended,
the drafters of the subject report shall make a good faith effort to have the subject draft report reviewed
by as many Planning Commissioners as feasible. Under such circumstances, such reports will be sent
to the Planning Commissioners immediately upon completion. Further, this means of adoption shall be
noted on the facing page of such document.
A Planning Commission minority report may be submitted with a majority report.
A minority report shall (1) contain the concurrent opinion of two or more Planning Commission
members who participated in the discussion and voted in the negative, (2) be signed by such members,
(3) not contain diverging opinions in the minority report and (4) contain an issue relating directly to the
majority report with which it is submitted.
One or more business days before any minority report is submitted to the Board of County
Commissioners, a copy of such minority report shall be (1) submitted to the Planning Commission
secretary and (2) made reasonably available to all Planning Commission members.
Commented [11]: Most Roberts Rules refer to a 2/3
"vote" rather than a 2/3 "majority" as "majority" just
means more than half.
ITEM 7
The timing of minority reports shall follow the same timelinetime line as the Planning Commission
majority report and be submitted in the same Board of County Commissioners packet. Such minority
report shall be disseminated to the entire Planning Commission on the day the minority and majority
reports are submitted to the Board packets.
SECTION 1516 - AMENDMENTS: Amendment to these bylawsBy-Laws may be made at any regular
meeting of the Planning Commission, provided the following conditions have been met:
1. The proposed change has been an item of business at the previous meeting;
2. The proposed change has been emailede-mailed to the membership ten (10) days prior to the
meeting considering the proposed change;
3. The proposed change is not in conflict with the statutes thatwhich authorize the Planning
Commission; and,
4. The proposed change receives an affirmative vote of no fewer than (5) five members - a majority
of the total membership.
SECTION 1617 - REPEALER: All previous bylawsby-laws of the Jefferson County Planning
Commission are hereby repealed and replaced.
SECTION 1718 - ADOPTION: These bylawsby-laws, as amended, are hereby adopted this XX5,, day
of XXXXAugust, 2020.
Jefferson County Planning Commission
____________________ ___________________
Richard Hull,Chair Date*
____________________
Helena Smith, Secretary
Original adoption date 7/23/97; Amended Section 17 on 11/17/99 and 12/1/99; Amended Section 4 on
6/21/00; Amended Section 13 on 7/19/00; Amended Sections 12 & 13 on 5/16/01; Entire revision on
8/6/03; Amended Section 4 on 4/18/07; Amended Section 14 on 1/16/08; Amended Sections 3, 9, 10,
11, 14 & 16 on 9/3/08; Amended Sections 4 and 8 on 6/1/11; Amended Section 8 on 2/6/13. Amended
Section 4 on August 5, 2020.
GENERAL CHANGE LIST AND JUSTIFICATIONS (remove after adoption)
1. Removed all formatting. Document was converted from PDF and had difficult legacy formatting.
Recreated bold headings, etc. from original layout and fixed line spacing.
ITEM 7
2. Replaced “by-law”(s) with “bylaw”(s) (a more typical convention now), “time line” with “timeline,”
“planning commission” with “Planning Commission,” “e-mail” with “email” and replacement after first
use of “Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners” to “Board” (as established in the Section
2). Fixed spelling, consistency, and other scrivener's errors.
3. Moved language about subcommittees from Section 5 to Section 8 - Added new language from the
civil attorney about committees replacing outdated/incorrect language.
4. Changed/added to Section 11, changed “yeah” to “yay” (which is proper) and added yay/yes,
nay/no (which is common)
5. New/Added to Section 11, clarifying how the PC can use the consent agenda.
6. Removed Section 14 as per Nov 3 civil attorney’s recommendation. No quasi-judicial function
means the appearance of fairness doctrine does not apply.
7. At adoption and before signature, remove draft reference and fix adoption dates.
8. Add clarification that PC is non-quasi-judicial to section 1
9. Updates to noticing and actions in section 8
10. Moved sentence about cancelled meetings because of the lack of a quarum to a previous
paragraph.
11.
8.12. Fix a few grammatical issues. Formatted: Highlight
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