HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03071995 - S.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 5 L Contra
SUPERVISOR. JIM ROGERS �OS}a
FROM:
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March 1, 1995 County°
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DATE:
SUBJECT: PROCESS FOR HANDLING PUBLIC HEARINGS ON LAND USE ISSUES
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
REQUEST the Community Development Director to establish a process
for meeting with proponents and opponents of land use issues
immediately prior to hearings before the Board of Supervisors to
review the issues, be briefed on the process of the hearing and the
procedures to be followed during the hearing and return a proposal
to the Board of Supervisors for the Board' s further consideration.
BACKGROUND:
In the short time I have been on the Board of Supervisors, I have
noted certain problems with land use hearings which might be .
resolved by getting all parties together perhaps 20-30 minutes
before the time the hearing is scheduled to begin. In some cases,
proponents and particularly opponents have never been involved in
a public hearing before the Board and are not knowledgeable about
the Board of Supervisors ' procedures and processes . An opportunity
for staff to brief the participants ahead of time could help to
smooth out the process and insure that everyone is aware of how the
hearing will proceed.
This briefing could include the process the Board follows of having
the staff summarize the project and issues before the Board,
followed by the proponents presenting their view of the project,
then hearing from the opponents and then allowing the proponent an
opportunity to rebut testimony presented in opposition to the
project. This can include how to properly fill out the speaker
card, and the possibility of making comments on the speaker card
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
-RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
APPROVED the recommendation set forth above as amended to include referral to the
Community Development Director and County Counsel for report to the Internal
Operations Committee and subsequent presentation to the Board of Supervisors.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
_ _
xx UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED March 7, 1995
Contact: County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
cc: Director, GMEDA SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Community Development Director
Public Works Director
County Counsel By DEPUTY
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while not necessarily wanting to speak, thereby allowing the Chair
to read the comments into the record but not requiring the
individual to actually address the Board. This briefing should
also emphasize the Board' s 3-minute time limit for speakers in most
cases .
The briefing could also include a summary of the steps which have
taken place prior to this hearing, what issues and actions the
Board is and is not considering at this hearing and what steps will
or can follow this hearing. This briefing would provide both
proponents and opponents an opportunity to ask questions and have
them answered by staff, to discuss and hopefully define, focus and
narrow the issues which are in contention, seek areas of agreement
among the parties and allow each side to organize its presentation
where this is feasible and necessary.
It would be helpful to have the staff person who is assigned to the
project meet with all parties for these purposes . This might also
include staff from the Public Works Department and/or County
Counsel ' s Office, depending on the hearing. Notices to the parties
in the future could note that this briefing session will occur
approximately 30 minutes earlier than the posted time for the
hearing and that all interested participants are strongly
encouraged to participate in the briefing. Room 108 might be
reserved permanently on Tuesday afternoons for this purpose with
the parties for each hearing being asked to meet sequentially in
the order in which their hearings are scheduled before the Board.
While I am only recommending that this process be used for land use
hearings at this time, if successful, we might want to consider it
on an ad hoc basis for other highly controversial hearings before
the Board on other subjects . My recommendation is that the
Community Development Director consider this request, work out a
possible process and the content for these briefings and return to
the Board within a reasonable period of time with his
recommendations for how this might be implemented on at least a
trial basis . I know that meetings and informal conferences along
these lines take place now, but they are not necessarily organized,
nor do they necessarily include all interested parties, nor do they
necessarily include a briefing on the various aspects of the
Board' s processes and procedures .
Anything we can do to make the Board' s procedures more
understandable to those who are concerned with a given project will
improve access to the general public on land use issues while
streamlining and focussing the comments which are made to the Board
by both proponents and opponents of a project.
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