The Des Moines City Council Committee of the Whole on Oct. 2 received a staff briefing on a proposed planning commission structure and gave direction to draft an ordinance establishing a seven-member commission with four-year terms.

Rebecca Deming, community development director, told the council staff’s starting proposal calls for seven commissioners appointed by the full council rather than a mayoral appointment with confirmation and for commissioners not to sit on other city standing commissions. "We talked about the number of commissioners and believe we had a consensus on 7 with a 4 year term," Deming said.

Deming said the proposed membership would include five members with experience or interest in land use, growth management and housing and two general members. The council asked whether to allow one commissioner who owns a business in the city but does not reside inside city limits; after discussion, council members indicated support for allowing one nonresident business owner provided the business has operated in Des Moines for at least one year.

Why it matters: the commission will be the city’s primary advisory body on many land-use, zoning and development issues. The council clarified which items should be automatically routed to the planning commission and which should remain under direct council control or be assigned to the commission only at the council’s discretion.

Council members also discussed the role of the commission on comprehensive-plan and master-plan amendments and shoreline-management matters. Deming advised that the city’s shoreline development permit process and the public hearing procedure are currently spelled out in the Shoreline Management Plan and that the council will be required to hold the public hearing under the current rules. She said the shoreline management plan is due for an update in about 18 months, at which point the city could decide whether to have the planning commission make recommendations ahead of the council hearing.

Council members signaled they preferred to let the council retain primary authority over comprehensive-plan and master-plan amendments by treating those items as discretionary referrals to the planning commission rather than automatic duties. On the question of allowing a nonresident business owner, the council recorded head nods indicating sufficient support to include a provision allowing a single business-owner seat for a person whose business has operated in Des Moines for at least one year.

Next steps: staff will return with a draft ordinance reflecting the council’s direction, hold a public hearing and, if approved, begin recruitment for the commission.