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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Planning Commission Meeting Summary

By Fred

As expected, the Planning Commission voted to move the Therapeutic School item to a working meeting June 7. Everyone is invited to come and participate.

It is unfortunate that all who attended and ready to comment were not allowed to comment. I thought they could have handled it better. Even Ben Hatfield got cut off in the middle of is Staff summary.

3 comments:

Richard said...

Fred did an incredible job. Initially, it didn't look like he would be able to present his (our) case as the County Attorney shut down Planning Staffer Ben Hatfield. Ultimately, Steve Clarke got the attention of Chairman Siegel who allowed Fred to make his excellent presentation. Sadly, there were only about 10 folks in the audience to hear Fred's report.

For whatever reason, after hearing Mr. Hatfield before he was cut off, it appears that planning staff does not favor the new verbiage, perhaps because they are the ones who interpreted the term "schools" and made the decision to allow Green Valley Academy to be called a "school."

Also at the meeting, the commission denied a request by Wolf Creek to have a time extension for The "Retreat" subdivision. They were basically asking for a Carte Blanche extension with no definite time specified.

At the end of the meeting, the commissioners discussed home business use. I had to leave early and missed the outcome of that discussion.

Richard Sorensen

Fred said...

Richard, thank you for your excellent summary. I was an honor to represent the community.

You missed some exciting fireworks between Chairman Siegel and Commissioner Warburton! In the end, the prohibited home uses that require physical contact with clients was left unchanged.

Fred said...

All,

I was incorrect about community participation the June 7 working meeting. I have confirmed the following with Ben Hatfield:

1. Work Sessions are public meetings.

2. They are sessions where staff and and commissioners can freely discuss policy direction, ordinance amendments, or items with less formality than the regular meetings.

3. They are not intended to be open for public comment.

4. Typically if a question on direction comes up, the Chair may ask the petitioner or someone directly affected to speak and clarify the issue.

5. Generally, if order can be contained, the Chair, at his discretion, may allow reasonable comment.

You can always submit your letters about the "Therapeutic School" zoning ordinance proposal to the Ogden Valley Planning Commission.

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused with my confusion!

Fred Smullin