Minutes 09-08-2014 QPH - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Gordon said she would argue for the Planning Board to consider items after the public hearing with the Board of Commissioners. She said if the Planning Board makes the recommendation before the hearing, then they will have to confine themselves to more technical comments. She said the official notice that gets attention is the one listing when the Commissioners hold their public hearing, so you would get the public input here, and then the process would be closed under the proposed process. Commissioner Price said she agrees that the public might be better served if the hearings are held more than quarterly. She said she has no problem with taking the legal advertisements off of the consent agenda if there is another way to get approval from the Commissioners. She said if they are going to do away with the joint public hearing, she feels that it is even more important to get the Planning Board recommendation after the public hearing. She said some of the recommendations may become null and void after the public hearing. Commissioner Price asked about the phrasing change for the public hearing title. She asked why not just call it "close public hearing." Perdita Holtz said staff was trying to avoid using the words "public hearing" in the title. Commissioner Price said she understood the point of letting the public know that this was the deadline for written comment. She thinks it needs to be simpler than what has been recommended. Chair Jacobs said if there are some items that would not be difficult to consider as part of a regular agenda, there is no reason why that cannot be done now. He said the planning director can consult with the manager to determine which items can go on the regular agendas. He is just concerned about the larger items. He said the advertisements can be approved by email. Chair Jacobs said the issue of where the Planning Board fits in is somewhat of a philosophical question. He said when he was on the Planning Board, it was very important that they got the last word with the Commissioners. He said this setup gives the Planning Board more weight, as they get to hear and weigh everything before commenting to the Board. He said part of this process is making a decision about the role of the Planning Board, as this proposal would allow the public to have the final word to the Commissioners. He said he is willing to listen to the argument, but it is hard for him to think of doing it differently. James Bryan said these public hearings can be very confusing. He said there are two separate decisions, the legislative decisions and the quasi-judicial systems. He said it may be a philosophical distinction, but there is also a legal distinction. He said these should be looked at separately. He said neither the Planning Board nor the written comments should be involved in the quasi-judicial decisions. He said written comments are hearsay and should have no value in these situations. He said the only thing that can be considered is the evidence presented at the quasi-judicial hearing. Commissioner Rich asked if the public comes to the Planning Board meetings Pete Hallenbeck said this ranges from 0 to 20 members of the public, but there is no trend. Commissioner Rich said she thinks this is a problem. She thinks that when the Planning Board is discussing what will be presented, the public should be there. Commissioner Rich said there is something wrong when we are calling something a public hearing when it is not a public hearing. Commissioner McKee said he agrees that the public should be involved in the Planning Board meetings, but most of the public knows that the final decision is made here. Most of the public knows that the final decision is made by the Board of County Commissioners Commissioner porosin said if you said the culture could be changed to encourage people to go to the Planning Board hearings. He said he has talked to a lot of people on different advisory boards, and he has heard the opinion that the elected officials yield undue