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Alexander County OKs Planning-board alternate seat in Land Development Code change
Summary
The Alexander County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a text amendment to the county Land Development Code creating an alternate member seat for the Planning Board to prevent absences from blocking supermajority votes on variances.
The Alexander County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a text amendment to the county Land Development Code that creates an alternate member seat on the Planning Board.
The change, introduced at a public hearing May 5, was presented by Patrick Creech, senior planner, who said the alternate would "serve and can plug in whenever someone is not there" and would be encouraged to attend all meetings even when not voting.
The amendment responds to situations in which an absent planning-board member effectively counts as a vote against variances that require supermajorities. Creech told commissioners the alternate would be considered a member of the Planning Board and would be available to vote when a regular member is absent.
Commissioners asked no substantive questions during the hearing. The public hearing record was quiet and no members of the public spoke on the measure before the board closed the hearing and voted.
The board made a motion to approve the text amendment and the measure passed with the board voting "all in favor"; the clerk recorded the vote as carrying unanimously. The Land Development Code will be updated with the alternate-member language as presented.
The amendment was proposed earlier by the Planning Board in March and forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for adoption after the public-hearing process.
