§ 6.38. SAMEPLANNING COMMISSION.

(a)

There is hereby created the City Planning Commission of the City of Raleigh, which shall consist of five (5) members, who shall be appointed by the City Council from among the citizens of the City (none of whom shall hold any other public office or position within the City), whose terms shall be four (4) years. Any vacancy during the unexpired term of any member shall be filled by the City Council for the remainder of the term. The members shall serve without compensation, except that the City Council may prescribe and authorize the payment of a per diem allowance for attendance upon meetings not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) per member, per meeting.

(b)

The City Planning Commission, as soon as practicable after its original appointment, shall meet and organize by electing one of its members as Chairman and one of its members as secretary, each of whom shall serve for a term of one (1) year and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. During the month of July of each year the City Planning Commission shall elect a Chairman and secretary, each of whom shall serve for a term of one year and until his successor has been elected and qualified. The City Planning Commission may establish its own rules governing meetings and procedures, subject to the legislative control of the City Council; and the City Planning Commission shall meet at least once a month at such time and place as may be determined by the commission for the transaction of its business and the commission may meet at such other times as its members may determine.

(c)

The City Planning Commission shall have no power to incur any debt or obligation on behalf of the City of Raleigh nor shall it have any power to make any expenditure of funds of the City of Raleigh unless such funds are specifically provided for in the budget of the City of Raleigh and appropriation made for such purposes by the City Council.

(d)

The City Planning Commission shall study the resources, possibilities and needs of the City and shall have power to propose and recommend plans and maps for the systematic future development and betterment of the City, and from time to time shall have power to recommend changes in the same when changes are considered advisable; and to this end the City Planning Commission shall have power to recommend that the City be subdivided into districts or zones and shall cause to be prepared maps and plans of same, specifying and regulating the location, height, bulk, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, the per centage of a lot that may be occupied, size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the manner of construction of the buildings thereafter to be erected, altered or reconstructed in such district or zone, the density of population and the location and uses of buildings, structures and lands for trade, industry, business, residence or other purposes, and establishing rules governing building lines, and the City Planning Commission shall submit the same to the City Council for its approval and adoption, either in whole or in part as may be determined by the City Council in its discretion, and with such amendments as the City Council may deem proper. The City Planning Commission is authorized to make a study of the existing parks of the City and to submit plans for the development of same, and locate new areas for park purposes and recommend to the City Council the acquisition of same, and to submit plans for the development of existing playgrounds and to make recommendations for the acquisition and development of new playgrounds.

(e)

The City Planning Commission may make recommendations for the promotion of the economic and industrial prosperity and the enhancement of the health, comfort and convenience of the citizens of the City of Raleigh. It may study and in its discretion recommend ways and means which will tend to prevent or relieve congestion, either of population or traffic, to control the fire hazard, to preserve the natural and historic features of the City, and to beautify the same. The commission may investigate, prepare surveys of and make recommendations on any matter which will, in its opinion, make the community a better place in which to live or work. Plans may be recommended by the commission for new streets, roads, boulevards, alleyways, viaducts, bridges, subways, parks, playgrounds, aviation fields, rail and bus terminals, tunnels, markets, public utilities, public buildings or any public improvements. Wherever any of the foregoing shall exist, then the City Planning Commission may make recommendations as to their respective removal, relocation, widening or extension, as occasion may suggest or necessity require.

(f)

The City Council shall have power at any time to request the City Planning Commission to give an opinion and make recommendations upon any matter pertaining to the powers and duties of the City Planning Commission.

(g)

Before any new street is opened, or any existing street is extended, or before any new subdivision for residence, business or industrial uses is made, the person or persons opening such street or proposing such new subdivision for residence, business, industrial or other purposes shall submit a detailed plan with blue prints and other necessary data to such City Planning Commission. It shall be the duty of said commission to carefully examine the plans for such subdivisions as regards their nature and purpose, the number, width, character, and location of streets and alleys, and the size, material, and manner of laying of water mains and sewer lines; and transmit such application, with all data, to the governing body, with its recommendations in writing. The jurisdiction of such commission concerning the regulation of subdivisions shall extend one mile beyond the corporate limits of the City. The commission shall have the right to make recommendations for the correction, widening, or relocating of any interior street to the governing body.

(h)

The City Council is hereby authorized and empowered, but shall not be required, to make provision in the City budget and to make appropriations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section.

(i)

The City Council, in its discretion, is hereby authorized and empowered in the exercise of the police powers of the City, to pass and adopt and to amend and/or repeal all ordinances and resolutions, and to do all things necessary, to carry out the recommendations that may be made by the City Planning Commission, under the provisions and powers of this section, where not contrary to law.

(S.L. 1973, Ch. 319, §1(t))