Article VII: Administrative Officers, Departments, Boards and Commissions

Sections

Section VII-1: General provisions

The Municipality shall have a Department of Finance, a Department of Public Service, a Police Department, a Fire Department, a Director of Law, a Planning and Zoning Commission, a Board of Zoning Appeals, an Architectural Review Board, and a Board of Cemetery Trustees. The Council shall provide by ordinance for the organization and duties thereof not provided for by this Charter and shall fix the compensation of the employees therein.

The Council may establish by ordinance new departments or divisions thereof, and with the exception of the departments, boards or commissions established by this Charter, may combine or abolish existing departments or divisions as it may deem necessary and may authorize one person to be head of two or more departments or divisions.
(Amended 11-3-81)

Section VII-2: Police and fire officers

  1. (a) The Police Chief shall be the head of the Department of Police and shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority of all members of Council, and may be removed from office by the Mayor only by and with the concurrence of a majority of all members of Council.

  2. (b) The Chief of Police shall either be appointed from the ranks of the Police Department of Chagrin Falls or shall have had not less than ten (10) years training and experience in law enforcement in a police organization of at least comparable size to that of this Municipality.

  3. (c) The Fire Chief shall be the head of the Department of Fire and shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation of a majority of all members of Council, and may be removed from office by the Mayor only by and with the concurrence of a majority of all members of Council.

  4. (d) The Fire Chief shall either be appointed from the ranks of the Fire Department of Chagrin Falls or shall have had not less than ten (10) years training and experience in firefighting in a firefighting organization of at least comparable size to that of this Municipality.

  5. (e) Until such time as a Civil Service Commission is established by Council, or when the Municipality becomes a city, the regular police and fire officers may be removed for the causes and under the procedure provided by the general laws of the State of Ohio for the removal of Village police and fire officers.
    (Amended 11-3-81)

Section VII-3: Director of Law

The Director of Law shall be chief legal officer of the Municipality and shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the members of Council. The Director of Law may be removed by the Mayor, but such removal shall not take place without the concurrence of a majority of all the members of Council. The Director of Law shall serve the Mayor, the Council, the administrative departments and the officers, boards and commissions of the Municipality as legal counsel in connection with Municipal affairs; and shall represent the Municipality in all proceedings in court or before any administrative board; and shall perform such other duties, consistent with the office, as may be required by this Charter, by ordinance of the Council, or as directed by the Mayor. No person shall act as Director of Law unless duly admitted to practice law in the State of Ohio.
(Amended 11-6-01)

Section VII-4: Planning and Zoning Commission

There is hereby created a Planning and Zoning Commission which shall consist of one member of Council elected by the Council annually and four electors of the Municipality, not holding other Municipal office or appointment, to be appointed for terms of four years by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the members of Council. The member of Council shall not hold any office on the Commission. A vacancy occurring during the term of any member shall be filled for the unexpired term in the manner authorized for an original appointment. Up to three (3) alternate members of the Board may be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by a majority vote of the members of Council, who shall serve whenever one (1) or more members are unable to hear a particular matter, or are unavailable for a particular meeting, none of which members shall be members of Council and who do not simultaneously hold an appointment to the Planning Commission and are electors of the Municipality, none of whom shall hold any other municipal office or appointment in the Village of Chagrin Falls, to be appointed for a term of four (4) years.

The Commission shall choose from its members a Chairman, Secretary and such other officers as it shall deem necessary; shall make its own rules and regulations; and shall keep a journal of its proceedings. The Commission shall appoint or reappoint its officers at its first regular meeting in January of each year. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation unless otherwise provided by ordinance.

A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and the affirmative vote of three members of the Commission shall be necessary for any official action.

The Commission shall have such power and perform such duties as may be prescribed by ordinance of Council or by the laws of Ohio to the extent they are not inconsistent with this Charter or such ordinances.
(Amended 11-3-81; 11-4-86; 11-8-16; 11-6-18)

Section VII-5: Board of Zoning Appeals

There is hereby created a Board of Zoning Appeals which shall consist of one (1) member of Council elected by the Council annually, who shall not hold any office on the Board, and who does not simultaneously hold an appointment to the Planning Commission, and four electors of the Municipality, none of whom shall hold any other municipal office or appointment in the Village of Chagrin Falls, to be appointed for terms of four (4) years by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the members of Council. Those members in office on the effective date of this provision shall be permitted to complete their term of appointment, even if they are in contravention of this section. Up to three (3) alternate members of the Board may be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by a majority vote of the members of Council, who shall serve whenever one (1) or more members are unable to hear a particular matter, or are unavailable for a particular meeting, none of which members shall be members of Council and who do not simultaneously hold an appointment to the Planning Commission and are electors of the Municipality, none of whom shall hold any other municipal office or appointment in the Village of Chagrin Falls, to be appointed for a term of four (4) years.

A vacancy occurring during the term of any member shall be filled for the unexpired term in the manner authorized for an original appointment.

Such Board shall have such other duties and functions as may be provided by ordinance of Council.
(Amended 11-6-07; 11-8-16; 11-6-18)

Section VII-6: Civil Service Commission

At such time as the Municipality shall become a City, Council shall, and prior to that time may, by ordinance provide for and establish a Civil Service Commission and a civil service system. The Commission shall consist of three electors of the Municipality, not holding other Municipal office or employment, to be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the members of Council, for terms of six years each, except that the three original members of the Commission shall be appointed for terms expiring on the last day of December of the second, fourth and sixth years after their appointment. A vacancy occurring during the term of any member of the Civil Service Commission shall be filled for the unexpired term in the manner authorized for an original appointment. The Commission shall designate one of its members as chairman and may appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the Commission and may hold other Municipal office or appointment.

The Council shall determine which employees of the Municipality shall be within the classified service and which shall be within the unclassified service, provided that regular full-time members of the Police and Fire Departments other than the Chief of Police and Fire Chief shall be in the classified service, and provided further that persons, other than those serving a probationary period of employment, who have been continuously employed on a full-time basis in the service of the Municipality in the same or a similar position in the classified service for at least ninety days prior to the date such position is placed in the classified service, shall be retained in the same or similar position without examination until discharged, reduced, disciplined, promoted or transferred in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commission.

Section VII-7: Board of Cemetery Trustees

(Editor’s note: Former Section VII-7 was repealed by the voters on November 8, 2016.)

Section VII-8: Municipal Engineer

The Council may by ordinance provide for the employment of a Municipal Engineer who shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of all members of Council. The Municipal Engineer may be removed by the Mayor, but such removal shall not take place without the concurrence of a majority of all the members of Council. The Municipal Engineer shall be a registered professional engineer in the State of Ohio, shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by Council, and shall receive such compensation by fees or salary, or both, as may be provided by ordinance of Council.
(Amended 11-7-06)

Section VII-9: Architectural Board of Review

The Architectural Board of Review, previously established by this Charter, shall consist of five (5) voting members and two (2) architect advisors. Three (3) of the voting members and the two (2) architect advisors shall be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Council for three (3) year terms, and the remaining two (2) voting members shall be appointed by Council, starting in 2024, for three (3) year terms, except that one (1) Council appointed voting member shall initially be appointed to a two (2) year term. The Mayor shall continue to appoint three (3) voting members and the two (2) architect advisors, by either reappointing or replacing the current three (3) voting members and two (2) architect advisors when their terms expire, whose appointment shall be confirmed by Council for three (3) year terms. Up to three (3) alternate members of the Board may be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by majority vote of the members of Council for three (3) year terms, who shall serve whenever one (1) or more members are unable to hear a particular matter or are unavailable for a particular meeting. The alternate members shall either be residents of the Village or registered architects in the State of Ohio, and in the event the absent or conflicted member is an architect, then the alternate member appointment preference for a particular matter or meeting, shall be for any alternate member who is a registered architect.

At least one voting member and the two architect advisors of the Architectural Board of Review shall be architects, duly registered and authorized to practice architecture in and under the laws of the State, and shall have been actively engaged in the general practice of architecture as registered architects in the State for a period of not less than three years prior to their appointment to such Board; the architect member of the Board and the architect advisors may reside outside the Village. Four (4) members of the Architectural Board of Review shall be residents of the Village of Chagrin Falls and need not be architects. The architect advisors shall serve in an advisory capacity, only, and shall not exercise any authority of the Village. No voting member or architect advisor of the Architectural Board of Review shall participate in the review or approval of any work of which he or she or any partner or professional associate of his or hers is the author, or in which he or she or they have a direct or indirect financial interest. An architect advisor may present matters to the Board which he or she has authored, or in which he or she has a direct or indirect financial interest, but that advisor shall not serve in an advisory capacity to the Board for such matters.

The purposes of the Architectural Board of Review are to preserve and protect the public health, safety and welfare by maintaining the high character of community development and protecting the real estate within the Municipality from impairment or destruction of value by regulating, according to proper architectural principles, the design, use of materials, finished grade lines and orientation of all new buildings, signs and structures, hereafter erected, and the moving, alteration, improvement, repair, adding to or razing in full or in part of the exterior of all existing buildings. Such regulations shall take into consideration the historical and architectural nature of existing buildings, signs and structures within the Municipality and the compatibility of proposed changes or proposed new buildings, signs and structures with such existing buildings, signs and structures. The Board shall exercise such other powers and duties as may be established by ordinance of Council. The Board may not act without a quorum present. A quorum shall consist of a minimum of three (3) voting members of the Board and, if none of the voting members of the Board quorum is an architect, one architect advisor must be present to establish the quorum.
(Amended 11-4-08; 11-6-18, 3-19-24)

Section VII-10: Removal of members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, and Architectural Board of Review

The Mayor may remove any member appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, or Architectural Board of Review, at any time for neglect of duty, inefficiency, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, incapacity or incompetency, or for conflict of interest, provided, however, that such removal shall not become final without the concurrence of a majority of the members of Council. The Council may remove any such appointee, without the consent of the Mayor, upon unanimous consent of its members, for the same reasons.
(Added 11-3-81; Amended 11-8-16)