At the February 5th Planning Commission meeting, County staff suggested that a work session be added to the Commission’s schedule to review upcoming Special Use Permit and Rezoning applications. These work sessions would be open to the public, but the current proposal is to have the sessions on the third Wednesday of the month from 5:00p.m. to 6:30p.m. at the Merchant Square Building. There are no plans to televise the work sessions, which should raise concerns, due to the likelihood the sessions will reduce the dialogue that would normally occur at public hearings when the applications are formally presented. On February 19th, the Planning Commission directed staff to develop bylaws changes to allow for this extra work session, which the Planning Commission would need to approve.
Based on watching the meeting, the concept behind having a work session is an admirable one, proposed by staff, not by a Planning Commissioner. The idea of becoming better informed on projects before they are approved is also a good idea. However, to hold these work sessions without being televised so citizens can review these discussions is likely to lead to suspicion and calls of impropriety as more controversial applications come before the Commission.
There are often comments from County officials about better informing the public and this move while appearing to be well intended will further remove from the public space discussions about the County’s future. County staff expressed a desire to hold the meetings at the Merchant Square Building to have better access to their files, which would make televising the work session challenging. However, since the Commission would be reviewing only a select few upcoming applications, moving files to the Holbert Building may be more manageable. The County currently spends approximately $11,000 per year to televise Citizen Budget Review Committee (CBRC) meetings. It would seem these Planning Commission meetings would be of even higher importance to capture for future reviews.