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Planning board cancels meeting for lack of quorum, reschedules hearings to Oct. 21
Summary
The planning board canceled its meeting after failing to reach the four-member quorum required by law and said staff will republish zoning cases for an Oct. 21 session and notify adjoining landowners; meeting packets are available on request.
A planning board meeting was canceled Tuesday after the panel failed to reach the four-member quorum required by law, and officials said the cases on the agenda were rescheduled for Oct. 21. Speaker 1, a board member, announced the cancellation and said staff will notify adjoining landowners and republish the cases for the new date.
The cancellation halted consideration of all agenda items, including zoning cases that had been scheduled for the evening. "By law requirement of 4 for a minimum quorum. 2 of our people are out today. 1 of our people has resigned from the board, and the last person we're waiting for, I'm hoping, is caught in traffic," Speaker 1 said, explaining why the board could not proceed.
The inability to convene a quorum meant no motions, votes or official actions could occur. Speaker 1 said the board would call the meeting if a quorum arrived by about 6:05 p.m.; when that did not happen the meeting was ended and the hearing calendar moved to Oct. 21. "The meeting will be rescheduled for October 21. Our staff will notify all adjoining land owners, and we'll do all the publishing of this all these cases for October 21," Speaker 1 said.
Board members and attendees raised logistical reasons for the shortfall: Speaker 1 noted one member had resigned and that traffic delays were affecting arrival. "As you know, the traffic is terrible today," Speaker 1 said. The same speaker said the situation required republishing and that republishing notices can take time: "it takes 30 days to republish and things like that. So I'm not sure exactly what date it will be. Might be the second Tuesday or something in October," Speaker 1 said before the meeting was confirmed for Oct. 21.
Staff also flagged how members of the public can obtain meeting materials. Speaker 1 said, "Dawn had an announcement for if there's any zoning case that you would like a packet for, right Dawn? You can see her in the back and she will see to it that it gets emailed to you because they had a limited number of hard copies." The announcement indicated that staff will provide electronic copies of the packet on request because hard copies were limited.
No formal votes or committee actions were taken at the session. The board member who spoke said they have served "25 years" on the board and apologized for the delay; no alternative interim actions were recorded. The board did not set any additional deadlines at the canceled meeting beyond the Oct. 21 reschedule and the stated plan for staff notification and republishing.
Members of the public who need the agenda packet were instructed to contact staff (Dawn) to receive an emailed copy prior to the rescheduled hearing on Oct. 21.
