Agenda - 11-18-2014 - 5b - Laserfiche WebLink

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15 Michael Harvey said 30 days was chosen because that is what is required for major subdivisions and government uses. He said conditional zoning requests only require 2 weeks, as these are a legislative decision and they are less complex. Commissioner Price asked if there are any guidelines about the location and the hours for these meetings. Michael Harvey said these meetings are typically held during the day, because that is when staff and the applicant can attend. He said he is aware of the concern that these may need to be held at an appropriate hour to guarantee mass attendance, but these will have to be coordinated with when the applicant can be available. Commissioner Price said that would be her concern. She suggested a set of guidelines within the department. Commissioner Rich said she has some concerns about the 30 day notice. She wonders if there is another way to let the neighbors know what is going on. Michael Harvey referred to page 80 and the typical timeline for the submittal of a special use permit applications. He said applications for a Class A special use permit are submitted 60 days prior to a public hearing. He said the timeline that has to be followed means that a neighborhood meeting letter is being sent out within two weeks of acceptance of the application. He said the application submittal deadline can certainly be altered if the Board wants to do so. He said one reason he would urge the Board not to require notification of neighbors when an application is submitted is that a sufficiency test has to be done to determine if the application is even complete, and if it is not complete it is rejected by staff and review does not occur. Commissioner Rich said the concern she had after the experience with the solar farm is that the solar company had a long time with the planning board, and the neighbors had a very short amount of time to understand what was happening. She said something was out of balance there. Michael Harvey said the application was submitted in December of 2013, but the applicant requested the review of the application be continued from the February until the May 2014 quarterly public hearing. He said the mechanism was currently not available for staff to notify property owners that an application had been submitted beyond the existing 2 week public hearing notice. He said if one special use applicant is treated differently than others, this creates a legal issue and the county could be challenged for being arbitrary. He said the applicant chose to delay the hearing after not responding to staff emails outlining deficiencies. Commissioner McKee referred to the outline on page 80 and said the notification is sent out 15 days prior to the 30 days before the neighborhood meeting. Michael Harvey said that is correct Commissioner Dorosin said it seems there are two different things that can be done to improve this process. He said it seems that staff feels that there is no need to hold a meeting until the application is approved, but the neighbors have an interest in what is going on. He does not see these things as irreconcilable.