Agenda - 02-19-2015 - E1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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57 influence. He said it seems that having the Planning Board make a recommendation after listening to the public and the Commissioners is putting the thumb on the scale of what is expected, if the Board is seeking the Planning Board's independent analysis. Commissioner Dorosin questioned whether the Planning Board could be an expert at the quasi - judicial hearing. He said they are the expert witnesses for the UDO and he feels this would be relevant testimony. Lisa Stuckey said this is her 4th year on the Planning Board. She said staff members are the experts, but the board members do not have a long enough term to be considered experts. Lisa Stuckey said the Planning Board struggles to get a quorum at these meetings, and she said that the planning board could not have a public hearing on a quasi - judicial matter. She questioned whether it is really fair to the public to make them go through two public hearings. Commissioner Dorosin said he does not think it is fair to call the public back to a second public hearing where they cannot talk. Lisa Stuckey said she understands this but she is not sure that adding another public hearing in front of the Board's public hearing changes anything. She said the Planning Board is not the final decision maker. Tony Blake said he is on the planning board representing his neighbors. He feels that the neighborhood information meetings might augment the Planning Board quite a bit, if they are broad enough. He said he is not a rubber stamp and he does not feel bound to the Board's opinions. From his perspective the Board is not putting their thumb on the scale. Lisa Stuckey said the Planning Board usually does not know what the Board of Commissioners thinks. She said there is discussion, but it is rare that there is a consensus. Paul Guthrie said this is a complicated issue because of the various functions within the relationship. He said the number one question is what the Board wants from their Planning Board, and how they want it to function. He said he has asked a lot of questions about these proposed changes. He thinks that well managed citizen advisory groups serve an important role. He thinks a better definition of what the Commissioners want from the Planning Board and planning staff would be helpful, along with building a process that continues to bring information from citizens about what is important to them. Pete Hallenbeck said the quorum problems have been bad this year. He thinks it would be helpful if the Planning Board did not have to have quorum at the hearings. He said it is human nature for people to want to deal with decision makers and not middle managers, but he does think it would help if the Planning Board could take input from the public. He views the Planning Board role as a little bit of Planning Department oversight. He said their role is also to provide community feedback. Pete Hallenbeck said it seems that synergy has been shattered by this item, and Commissioner input is low, which makes it hard to come up with something. He said every time they try to streamline this process there are too many unknowns. Lydia Wegman said it is burdensome to expect the public to attend two different public hearings. She said the Commissioners are the decision makers and they will get more people, and more focused comments than at the Planning Board meetings. She encouraged them to allow opportunity for the public to speak. She said she hopes that she, as a Planning Board member, would have an opportunity to hear everything the Commissioners hear before making a recommendation. Commissioner Gordon said the key question is the role of the Planning Board. She said to get the Planning Board recommendation before the public hearing would only provide technical comments. She said this would not provide the benefit of the experienced Planning Board members going over the issues. She believes it would be better to get the Planning Board recommendation after they have heard all of the information.