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Planning and zoning panel accuses Paradise council of not being open with citizens By
Joe Rowley PARADISE -- A meeting that began with barely a quorum eventually became a whirlwind of confusion and frustration, along with several threats of resignation, in a tightly packed town council chamber Wednesday night. Several issues, including poor communication and ambiguous procedures for annexation, were addressed when the planning and zoning committee presented its concerns to the town council. With only four council members and the mayor, the Paradise council chamber, at about 10 by 20 feet, is usually large enough. And Wednesday night with only Mayor Lee Atwood and councilmen Dale Anderson and Dave Anderson present, the room seemed even more spacious. But with the planning and zoning committee's slot on the agenda, 13 people eventually crowded all the free space in the room. At issue was what Mike Majors, chairman of planning and zoning, said was a lack of communication between his group and the town council. "We (the committee and the town council) haven't met for two years, and I have been asking for a meeting for over a year," Majors said. "There is confusion among the council and planning and zoning." Specifically Majors pointed to a lack of defined criteria by which to decide issues of annexation. He and the committee members expressed a mutual feeling of frustration brought on by several experiences of people being approved by one body of government and turned down by the other. Because of that frustration he threatened to resign if the situation didn't improve. And one committee member, Tim Lehman, actually walked out of the meeting. Majors said that he wasn't just leaving the meeting but that it meant Lehman was gone for good. "He's not just gone, he's gone," Majors said. Majors pointed to several people who had appeared before both bodies in the past to discuss annexation and have left in frustration at not being able to get a straight answer. Councilman Dave Anderson said that all people had to do is begin the process by turning in a petition for annexation. But Majors said that potential applicants deserved more definitive information. He compared the experience to approaching a bank for a loan, and said that even though the bank wouldn't give him a yes or a no without an application, it would tell him what criteria he would have to meet. "I can leave that bank knowing pretty well what my answer will be," he said. "And we don't have that here." Majors said that the two bodies needed to get together and decide concretely by what criteria they would judge petitions for annexation and other building and business applications. Then both groups would know how the other might act on any given issue. "We're not on the same wavelength," Majors said, citing several examples of his committee approving something that was subsequently turned down by the town council. "When people come to me with annexation and building issues, I don't know what you guys are going to say. "We've had people come in for business and annexation and walked out of both of our meetings frustrated (because we couldn't give them a straight answer). When it's only five or six people we can say that it's partly the people and partly us. But when it's everybody that gets frustrated then we need to do something that*s more user-friendly." Majors said that his reason for hiring on as chairman of planning and zoning was because he saw some changes coming and wanted to be able to have some control over what happened in his community. "Cache Valley is Salt Lake Valley 40 years ago. We're going to be Draper and I don't want a whole bank of houses that all look the same," he said. "I want to be able to have some control over what Paradise looks like." Majors said that if he didn't see some real improvement and commitment for correlation between the two groups before the end of the year he was ready to resign. The town council agreed that they needed a written manual for annexation and that the two groups needed mutual guidelines by which to make decisions. Mayor Atwood and the town council agreed to meet with planning and zoning Jan. 9 and to request training and assistance from some experts on land issues. They agreed to look for help from the Bear River Association of Governments or from the League of Governments. Majors and the planning and zoning committee said that was acceptable and Majors withdrew his resignation threat until that time. "I'm ready to be romanced," he said. "I don't know where the hell
the roses and shit are, but if they're not here I'm going to the next
guy." |
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