§ 271 — Planning board, creation, appointment

§ 271. Planning board, creation, appointment. 1. Authorization. The\ntown board of each town is hereby authorized by local law or ordinance,\nto create a planning board consisting of five or seven members and\nshall, by resolution, appoint the members of such board and designate\nthe chairperson thereof. In the absence of a chairperson the planning\nboard may designate a member to serve as chairperson. The town board\nmay, as part of the local law or ordinance creating said planning board,\nprovide for the compensation of planning board members.\n 2. Appropriation for planning board. The town board is hereby\nauthorized and empowered to make such appropriation as it may see fit\nfor planning board expenses. In a town containing one or more villages,\nor parts thereof, such charges and expenses less fees, if any collected,\nshall be a charge upon the taxable property of that part of the town\noutside of said villages and shall be assessed, levied and collected\ntherefrom in the same manner as other town charges. The planning board\nshall have the power and authority to employ experts, clerks and a\nsecretary and to pay for their services, and to provide for such other\nexpenses as may be necessary and proper, not exceeding in all the\nappropriation that may be made therefor by the town board for such\nplanning board.\n 3. Town board members ineligible. No person who is a member of the\ntown board shall be eligible for membership on such planning board.\n 4. Terms of members first appointed. The terms of members of the board\nshall be for terms so fixed that the term of one member shall expire at\nthe end of the calendar year in which such members were initially\nappointed. The terms of the remaining members shall be so fixed that one\nterm shall expire at the end of each calendar year thereafter. At the\nexpiration of the term of each member first appointed, his or her\nsuccessor shall be appointed for a term which shall be equal in years to\nthe number of members of the board.\n 5. Terms of members now in office. Members now holding office for\nterms which do not expire at the end of a calendar year shall, upon the\nexpiration of their term, hold office until the end of the calendar year\nand their successors shall then be appointed for terms which shall be\nequal in years to the number of members of the board.\n 6. Increasing membership. Any town board may, by local law or\nordinance, increase a five member planning board to seven members.\nAdditional members shall be first appointed for single terms as provided\nby resolution of the town board in order that the terms of members shall\nexpire in each of seven successive years and their successors shall\nthereafter be appointed for full terms of seven years. No such\nadditional member shall take part in the consideration of any matter for\nwhich an application was on file with the planning board at the time of\nhis or her appointment.\n 7. Decreasing membership. A town board which has seven members on the\nplanning board may by local law or ordinance, decrease the membership to\nfive, to take effect upon the next two expirations of terms. However, no\nincumbent shall be removed from office except upon the expiration of his\nor her term, except as hereinafter provided.\n 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. a. Each member of the\nplanning board shall complete, at a minimum, four hours of training each\nyear designed to enable such members to more effectively carry out their\nduties. Training received by a member in excess of four hours in any one\nyear may be carried over by the member into succeeding years in order to\nmeet the requirements of this subdivision. Such training shall be\napproved by the town board and may include, but not be limited to,\ntraining provided by a municipality, regional or county planning office\nor commission, county planning federation, state agency, statewide\nmunicipal association, college or other similar entity. Training may be\nprovided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to,\nelectronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom\ntraining.\n b. To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall\nhave completed the training promoted by the town pursuant to this\nsubdivision.\n c. The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modified\nby resolution of the town board when, in the judgment of the town board,\nit is in the best interest of the town to do so.\n d. No decision of a planning board shall be voided or declared invalid\nbecause of a failure to comply with this subdivision.\n 8. Vacancy in office. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by\nexpiration of term, the town board shall appoint the new member for the\nunexpired term.\n 9. Removal of members. The town board shall have the power to remove,\nafter public hearing, any member of the planning board for cause. Any\nplanning board member may be removed for non-compliance with minimum\nrequirements relating to meeting attendance and training as established\nby the town board by local law or ordinance.\n 10. Chairperson duties. All meetings of the planning board shall be\nheld at the call of the chairperson and at such other times as such\nboard may determine. Such chairperson, or in his or her absence, the\nacting chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of\nwitnesses.\n 11. Appointment of agricultural member. Notwithstanding any provision\nof this chapter or of any general, special or local law or ordinance, a\ntown board may, if an agricultural district created pursuant to section\nthree hundred three of article twenty-five-AA of the agriculture and\nmarkets law exists wholly or partly within the boundaries of such town,\ninclude on the planning board one or more members each of whom derives\nten thousand dollars or more annual gross income from agricultural\npursuits in said town. As used in this subdivision, the term\n"agricultural pursuits" means the production of crops, livestock and\nlivestock products, aquacultural products, and woodland products as\ndefined in section three hundred one of the agriculture and markets law.\n 12. Service on other planning boards. No person shall be disqualified\nfrom serving as a member of the town planning board by reason of serving\nas a member of a village or county planning board.\n 13. Rules and regulations. The planning board may recommend to the\ntown board regulations relating to any subject matter over which the\nplanning board has jurisdiction under this article or any other statute,\nor under any local law or ordinance of the town. Adoption of any such\nrecommendations by the town board shall be by local law or ordinance.\n 14. Report on referred matters; general reports. a. The town board may\nby resolution provide for the reference of any matter or class of\nmatters, other than those referred to in subdivision thirteen of this\nsection, to the planning board before final action is taken thereon by\nthe town board or other office or officer of said town having final\nauthority over said matter. The town board may further stipulate that\nfinal action thereon shall not be taken until the planning board has\nsubmitted its report thereon, or has had a reasonable time, to be fixed\nby the town board in said resolution, to submit the report.\n b. The planning board may review and make recommendations on a\nproposed town comprehensive plan or amendment thereto. In addition, the\nplanning board shall have full power and authority to make\ninvestigations, maps, reports and recommendations in connection\ntherewith relating to the planning and development of the town as it\nseems desirable, providing the total expenditures of said board shall\nnot exceed the appropriation provided therefor.\n 15. Alternate members. a. A town board may, by local law or ordinance,\nor as part of the local law or ordinance creating the planning board,\nestablish alternate planning board member positions for purposes of\nsubstituting for a member in the event such member is unable to\nparticipate because of a conflict of interest. Alternate members of the\nplanning board shall be appointed by resolution of the town board, for\nterms established by the town board.\n b. The chairperson of the planning board may designate an alternate\nmember to substitute for a member when such member is unable to\nparticipate because of a conflict of interest on an application or\nmatter before the board. When so designated, the alternate member shall\npossess all the powers and responsibilities of such member of the board.\nSuch designation shall be entered into the minutes of the initial\nplanning board meeting at which the substitution is made.\n c. All provisions of this section relating to planning board member\ntraining and continuing education, attendance, conflict of interest,\ncompensation, eligibility, vacancy in office, removal, and service on\nother boards, shall also apply to alternate members.\n 16. Voting requirements. Every motion or resolution of a planning\nboard shall require for its adoption the affirmative vote of a majority\nof all the members of the planning board. Where an action is the subject\nof a referral to the county planning agency or regional planning council\nthe voting provisions of sections two hundred thirty-nine-m and two\nhundred thirty-nine-n of the general municipal law shall apply.\n