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n <br />right now only, I guess, SMAs, shoreline setbacks and special permits go directly to court. The <br />rest, use permits, I guess use permits are the only ones that go to the Board of Appeals. But now <br />everything, all of those permits would go to, would go directly to court, which would mean now <br />that we would be holding contested case hearings on use permits in addition to special permits, <br />shoreline setback variances and SMAS. <br />MCINTOSH: Okay. Then you have to balance that with the cost of going to court as <br />opposed of going to the Board of Appeals. It does clean up the process and I don't disagree with <br />it. But I also want to clarify that when you say variance and special exception appeals process, <br />that means if you grant a variance and someone wants to appeal it, it goes directly to the Board of <br />Appeals. It doesn't come to the Planning Commission first. <br />Now the streamlining process I agree with, having served on the Board of Appeals for a couple of <br />years. But I really think we need to look at an alternative solution for the legal counsel situation. <br />GIANNINI: Okay. That would be, that would be something that could be brought up <br />to the Council when this goes up. And, also, well, and another reminder is that as you were <br />saying of having the whole thing taken out of the County government I would just, just as a <br />warning, that would involve both privatization and procurement questions which I don't want to <br />get into. <br />MCINTOSH: We're going to get that walk out, we're going to get that walk out. <br />TANAKA: Mr. Chairman, along those lines of discussion, what would it take to have <br />all the appeals whether it's, from the Planning Commission which can be eliminated, majority of, <br />or the Planning Director, go straight to a judicial body, all of them? So it would be eliminating <br />the body in its entirety. And as far as the cost that Commissioner McIntosh, I mean, the attorneys <br />appear in court anyway, right? So what do we do, reduce some of that? <br />GIANNINI: Well, the problem of, with eliminating the Board of Appeals, what it would <br />mean is that in order for something to go to the court it would mean that every single decision <br />made by the Planning Director would have to be done in the opportunity for a full contested case, <br />and then appealed. <br />GOLDSTEIN: And then the items that could be appealed, the items that goes to the Chief <br />Engineer and the Planning Director, those kinds of actions sometimes involve real specific Code <br />provisions that it would be far easier for a citizen to go and appeal before the Board of Appeals, <br />rather than to go directly to court over a matter that we maybe, yeah, would be better served, the <br />public would be better served, I think. <br />SOUZA: Mr. Chairman? <br />BALOG: Commissioner Souza. <br />