Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 7 Perdita Holtz said that is correct. Commissioner Dorosin said the next substantive change he sees is that there will be a round of mail notifications to direct neighbors about Planning Board meetings for map amendments. He said the people attending will have opportunity to make comments and suggestions, and it is almost like a mini public hearing at the Planning Board. Perdita Holtz said that is correct. Commissioner Dorosin said someone could come to the Planning Board meetings now, but what is different is the provision of first class mail notification to nearby property owners. Perdita Holtz said currently the Planning Board does not discuss applications before the public hearing, and this would be a new change to increase public participation at this level. She said this moves the discussion up in the process, so that the Planning Board discussion occurs before the public hearing. Commissioner Dorosin asked if the notification was previously an agenda item voted on by the Board. Perdita Holtz said the legal ad was an agenda item. Commissioner Dorosin said the notification will not be on the agenda, assuming this is acceptable to the Board. Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is any legal requirement that the Board has to vote on this. John Roberts said no. Commissioner Dorosin said the proposal does not say that the Planning Board cannot participate in the public hearing; it just states that a quorum will not be required. Perdita Holtz said this is correct. Commissioner Dorosin said the public hearing, as laid out it in the proposal, would be the last step before a decision is made, whenever that may occur. He asked if there will be any reference back to the Planning Board. Perdita Holtz said it could be the Board of County Commissioners' purview to send something back to Planning Board if something new comes forward at the public hearing. She said the public hearing would be closed, and then the item sent back to the Planning Board. Commissioner Dorosin asked if the Board could also have the option to send something back to the Planning Board while still keeping the public hearing open. He does not want to have public hearings where the public cannot speak. Perdita Holtz said for legislative items, it is required that a public hearing is held, and it is not precluded that that the public cannot comment before or after the public hearing. She said it is the County's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that specifies written comments only being allowed after a public hearing. Commissioner Dorosin said it seems like this is getting close to a resolution. He agrees that the critical aspect is public participation, and he is in favor of the streamlining with targeted outreach early in the process. He said he not as wedded to the suggestion of not making a decision on the same night that it is presented at the public hearing. He can see both sides of this issue, and he is not sure it needs to be a matter of policy. He said there will be times when an issue is fully vetted by the time of the public hearing. Perdita Holtz said if the concern is to get rid of the non - speaking public hearing, then the way to do this is to remove the requirement for only having written comments after a public hearing. Commissioner Dorosin asked what the basis was for this rule. Perdita Holtz said she believed that this was set up in the 1980's so that the Board of County Commissioners would be informed about anything that went on after the public hearing. Craig Benedict said the reason for this rule was to insure that their legislative and quasi - judicial procedures were the same. He said the goal was to have some point in time where the