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Zoning Board wants framework for conduct of meetings
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Posted on Dec 12 2005
The Saipan Zoning Board has proposed regulations that establish a framework for the agency’s meetings.
The regulations also list the board’s power and duties, a conflict of interest policy, and procedures for internal administration.
They provide clear legal authority for the board to meet “virtually,” rather than in person, as long as one or more commission members may attend the meeting fully in the designated meeting room.
Saipan Zoning Board chairman Henry Hofschneider said the proposed regulations were only the first of rules and regulations to be promulgated to implement Public Law 6-32, or the CNMI Zoning Code.
P.L. 6-32, which created the Zoning Board, was amended by P.L. 7-41 and modified by P.L. 8-10.
The currently proposed regulations create Regulations Part 100 through Part 1000. Many of the sections are reserved and currently have no content.
According to the draft regulations, the Zoning Board will have regular meetings on the first Thursday of every month at 6pm.
The regulations also establish procedures to conduct meetings when one or more of the board members are not physically present. “This is necessary because of complexities of the travel schedules of the board members, and the difficulties of travel in bad weather. The regulations allow one or more of the members to call in to the announced meeting place, a practice common in the business world,” according to the proposed regulations.
The regulations also provide procedures that conform to the CNMI’s Open Meetings Act, allowing the public to attend SZB meetings.
