Section 713.22 - County planning commission(A) The board of county commissioners of any county may, and on petition of the planning commissions of a majority of the municipal corporations in the county having those planning commissions shall, provide for the organization and maintenance of a county planning commission. A county planning commission shall consist of the members of the board of county commissioners, or their alternates designated in accordance with this division, and eight other members appointed by the board in accordance with divisions (B)(1) to (4) of this section or their alternates designated and approved in accordance with this division. Any alternate designated under this division shall be a resident of the county. To designate an alternate for a member of the board of county commissioners, the board member shall send a letter of appointment to the alternate and deliver a copy of that letter to the clerk of the board of county commissioners. At the next regular meeting of the board, the clerk shall inform the board of the designation of the alternate, and the board shall have the designation entered on the journal.
To designate an alternate for any other member of the planning commission, the member shall send a letter of appointment to the clerk of the board of county commissioners designating an individual to serve as that member's alternate. At the next regular meeting of the board, the clerk shall inform the board of the designation of the alternate, which designation the board may either approve or disapprove. The board shall enter its decision on the board's journal and, if the alternate is approved, designate the name of the alternate on the journal. The clerk of the board shall notify the commission member of the board's action, and the commission member shall inform the alternate.
A designated alternate shall serve at the pleasure of the member who makes the designation. Removal of an alternate shall be made by a letter of removal, delivered and journalized by the same method that the alternate was designated.
Once an alternate is designated for a member of the planning commission, if that commission member is absent from a planning commission meeting, the alternate has the right to vote and participate in all proceedings and actions of the commission at that meeting as if that alternate were the commission member.
(B)(1) Except as provided for counties with two or less townships in division (B)(4) of this section, if the population of the portion of any city located in the county exceeds fifty per cent of the total population of the county, the board of county commissioners shall select three of the appointive members from persons nominated by the planning commission of that city. The board shall appoint three members from the unincorporated territory of the county from persons recommended by the townships to the county, except that, if one or more of those townships in the county is a limited home rule government township, then the board shall appoint at least one of these three township appointees from the persons recommended by a limited home rule government township. The remaining two appointees shall be selected at the discretion of the board and shall be residents of the county, one residing in the unincorporated territory of the county and representing townships and the other residing in the incorporated territory of the county and representing municipal corporations in the county.(2) Except as provided for counties with two or less townships in division (B)(4) of this section, if a county does not contain the portion of any city with at least fifty per cent of the total population of the county but contains one or more limited home rule government townships, one of the appointees shall be a resident of a limited home rule government township in the county, selected at the discretion of the board of county commissioners from persons recommended by a limited home rule government township in the county. One appointee shall be a resident of the municipal corporation with the largest population contained within the portion of the municipal corporation located in the county, selected at the discretion of the board of county commissioners from persons recommended by that municipal corporation. The remaining six appointees shall be residents of the county, selected at the discretion of the board of county commissioners.(3) Except as provided for counties with two or less townships in division (B)(4) of this section, if a county does not contain the portion of any city with at least fifty per cent of the total population of the county and does not contain a limited home rule government township, the board of county commissioners shall appoint eight residents of the county selected at the discretion of the board.(4) If a county contains two or less townships with unincorporated territory, the board of county commissioners shall appoint eight residents of the county selected at the discretion of the board, except that, if the population of the portion of any city located in the county exceeds fifty per cent of the total population of the county, then at least three of the appointive members shall be selected from persons nominated by the planning commission of that city.(C) Subject to division (F) of this section, the appointive members of a county planning commission shall be appointed for terms of three years, except that, of the eight members first appointed, three shall be appointed for terms of two years, and two shall be appointed for a term of one year. The appointive members may be allowed their actual and necessary expenses and the compensation that the board of county commissioners determines to be appropriate. Any member of a county planning commission may hold any other public office and may serve as a member of a city, village, and regional planning commission, except as otherwise provided in the charter of any city or village.(D) The compensation and expenses of the appointive members of a county planning commission and the compensation of planning commission employees shall be paid from appropriations made by the board. The county planning commission may employ engineers, accountants, consultants, and employees as are necessary, and make purchases as may be needed to the furtherance of its operation.
The county planning commission may accept, receive, and expend funds, grants, and services from the federal government or its agencies, from departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of this state or any adjoining state, from one or more counties of this state or any adjoining state, from any municipal corporation or political subdivision of this or any adjoining state, including a county, regional, and municipal planning commission of this or any adjoining state, or from civic sources, may contract with respect thereto, either separately, jointly, or cooperatively, and may provide information and reports as may be necessary to secure such financial aid.
(E) A county planning commission may adopt a policy under which members of the board of county commissioners, as members of that commission, or their designated alternates must abstain from participating and voting on the commission's recommendation, whenever a county planning commission is required by section 303.12 of the Revised Code to recommend the approval or denial of a proposed amendment or approval of some modification of an amendment to the county zoning resolution, or is required by section 303.07 of the Revised Code to approve or disapprove, or make suggestions about, a proposed county zoning resolution. The policy may require that a quorum of the commission under those circumstances be determined on the basis of an eight-member commission instead of an eleven-member commission.(F) If at any time a change occurs within a county so that the population of a portion of a city within the county exceeds or no longer exceeds fifty per cent of the total population of the county or a township becomes a limited home rule government township, thus creating a situation where the membership of a county planning commission should be altered to comply with the membership requirements of division (B) of this section, within thirty days after the effective date of either of those types of change, the board of county commissioners, in the board's discretion, may make changes on the commission by resolution so that its membership representation complies with division (B) of this section. If the board does not adopt a resolution to so change the commission's membership, the board shall phase in the necessary changes in the commission's membership by waiting until a member's term of office expires and appointing new members so as to meet the representation requirements of division (B) of this section as soon as possible without interfering with any member's term of office.Effective Date: 6/14/2000; 4/15/2005 .