03-11-202 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Staff Report To: Mayor Fischer and Members of the Little Canada City Council From: Ben Harrington, AICP, Community Development Director Date: March 11, 2026 Re: Ordinance 931 – Youth Planning Commissioner Role Actions To Be Considered Motion to approve, table, or deny the following: • Adoption of Ordinance #931, an ordinance amending Little Canada City Code Chapter 202, Advisory Planning Commission, and approve a summary for publication. Background: Little Canada’s Advisory Planning Commission currently consists of eight (8) voting members. Seven (7) are adult residents of the community and one (1) is an under-18 resident of the community enrolled in high school. Under the City’s current structure, the Youth Commissioner is a full voting member of the Planning Commission and is counted toward quorum. From an administrative standpoint, the current structure creates operational risk. Because quorum requires a majority of voting members, an eight-member Planning Commission requires that five members be present to establish quorum. In June 2025, the Planning Commission was one member short of quorum, including the Youth Commissioner. While that instance only resulted in additional public notice costs for a moved ordinance hearing, a loss of quorum for an agenda containing an outside business item could jeopardize the City’s ability to meet the statutory 60-day deadline for action on development applications. If the Youth Commissioner is restructured as a non-voting, non- quorum position, quorum would be calculated based on seven voting members, meaning four members would be needed to establish quorum. Staff have also observed that high school students face uniquely demanding schedules. Students interested in civic service are often balancing academic requirements, extracurricular activities, employment, and post-secondary planning. As a result, a higher level of absenteeism for youth commissioners is both expected and reasonable when compared to adult commission members. After consultation with the City Council and Planning Commission, staff recommend restructuring the Youth Commissioner role as a non-voting, non-quorum advisory position. Under such a structure, staff do not believe the value of the Youth Commissioner experience would be meaningfully diminished. Youth perspectives would continue to be fully expressed during deliberations and captured in meeting minutes and in staff summaries of Planning Commission recommendations provided to the City