§11-52-3. Municipal Planning Commission - Composition; qualifications, appointment, terms of office, compensation, and removal of members; vacancies.

(a) The commission shall consist of nine members: The mayor, or his or her designee, one of the administrative officials of the municipality selected by the mayor, a member of the council to be selected by it as a member ex officio and six persons who shall be appointed by the mayor, if the mayor is an elective officer, otherwise by the officer as the council may in the ordinance creating the commission designate as the appointing power; provided, that in any Class 1 municipality, the commission shall consist of 16 members: The mayor, one of the administrative officials of the municipality selected by the mayor, two members of the council to be selected by it as members ex officio, and 12 persons who shall be selected by the council. In the event the mayor designates a person to sit in his or her place on the municipal planning commission, the person so appointed shall serve during the term of the mayor, unless the original appointment shall be limited to a term certain of not less than 12 months at time of appointment.

In addition to regular members, the mayor and each of the council members of Class 1 municipalities serving on the commission may each appoint, from the administrative staff of the mayor and council exclusively, a supernumerary member who shall be authorized to be counted for the purpose of determining a quorum, and, while serving, to act with all of the power and authority of a regular member whenever such municipal official is not personally in attendance.

In addition to the regular members, in all cities having populations of not less than 175,000 nor more than 275,000, two supernumerary members shall be appointed to serve on the board at the call of the chair only in the absence of regular members, and while so serving, they shall have and exercise the power and authority of regular members.

(b) All members of the commission shall serve without compensation, and the appointed members shall hold no other municipal office, except, that one of the appointed members may be a member of the zoning board of adjustment or appeals, except in all cities having populations of not less than 175,000 nor more than 275,000, according to the most recent federal decennial census, wherein no member of the commission may be a member of the zoning board of adjustment or appeals and wherein all members of the commission shall be bona fide residents and qualified electors of such cities, except that the 12 appointed members of any commission elected by the council in Class 1 municipalities, under subsection (a) of this section, upon adoption of a resolution by the city council approving Acts 1994, No. 94-672, shall be paid twenty-five dollars ($25) per meeting for each meeting of the commission attended by the members. No member shall be paid more than fifty dollars ($50) in any one month, and any appointed member who is an elected official or an employee of the municipality shall not be eligible to receive the compensation.

(c) The terms of ex officio members shall correspond to their respective official tenures, except that the term of the administrative official selected by the mayor shall terminate with the term of the mayor selecting the member.

The term of each appointed member shall be six years or until the successor takes office, except that the respective terms of five of the members first appointed shall be one, two, three, four, and five years, provided, that in any city having a 16 member commission as provided in subsection (a) of this section, the respective terms of five pairs of the members first appointed by council shall be one, two, three, four, and five years, and provided further, that in all cities having populations of not less than 175,000 nor more than 275,000, the term of each appointed member of the commission shall be for three years.

(d) Members other than the member selected by the council may, after a public hearing, be removed by the mayor for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, provided, that in any city having a 16 member commission, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, members may, after a public hearing, be removed by the council for any of the above reasons or for continued failure to attend meetings. The council may for like cause remove the member or members selected by it. The mayor or council, as the case may be, shall file a written statement of reasons for such removal.

(e) Vacancies occurring otherwise than through the expiration of term shall be filled for the unexpired term by the mayor in the case of members selected or appointed by him or her, by the council in the case of the member, or other members selected by it and by the appointing power designated by the council in municipalities in which the mayor is not an elective officer.

(Acts 1935, No. 534, p. 1126; Code 1940, T. 37, §788; Acts 1955, No. 446, p. 1000; Acts 1965, No. 587, p. 1098; Acts 1966, Ex. Sess., No. 429, p. 573; Acts 1971, No. 663, p. 1371; Acts 1983, No. 83-437, p. 618; Acts 1983, No. 83-476, p. 668; Acts 1988, No. 88-215, p. 332; Acts 1994, No. 94-672, §1.)