2/2/14
At the Tuesday board meeting, the Planning and Building Department will ask the board for further clarification on what the Planning Commission should review in the Conservation and Open Space Element of the Draft General Plan.
The board previously voted 3-2 — with Lovelace and 2nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell dissenting — at its Jan. 13 General Plan Update meeting to send the entire element back to the commission for 45 days of review.
The Planning Commission held two public hearings on Jan. 25 and Jan. 27 to review the element and narrowed down its review to the Open Space and Biological Resources sections until further guidance from the board was given.
Lovelace said that the lack of direction from the board poses a problem for the Planning Commission, as each special meeting costs around $600.
“Before we adjourned on that issue, I did ask if the board wanted to provide more guidance because I thought it was unclear,” Lovelace said. “If they have to review the whole element, they’ll have to find more money.”
Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass said the Planning Commission had informed the board in a letter that if a section of the element was going to be sent back that it “would be sent back with the entire element.”
“I said during our meeting that it was up to the Planning Commission to decide which section they wanted to review, whether it was the short list or an item by item approach,” Bass said. “I think it’s up to their preference.”
