2005-09-02 Planning Commission Minutes

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presenttheir case and have their witnesses and exhibits ready on the first meeting on the matter, noting the Commission could go straight into decision making that same day. Ms. Siracusa said she had no problems with this proposal, as in a lot of cases she did not see a reason why the hearings had to be conducted by a hearings officer. However, she said she has seen cases where the hearings went on for long periods and said she would hope the Commissions agenda could be adjusted accordingly so the Commission does not have to stay until 9 p.m., to which Mr. Yuen said the Department will do this where they think the range of issues and amount of testimony is limited. Commissioner Iwashita said perhaps the Commission should consider the Board of Land and Natural Resources procedure of having action taken on an application and then considering a request for a contested case and further proceedings. Mr. Yuen noted the Boards rule is very unusual in that it says that if a decision is adverse to the applicant then the applicant can go throughacontestedcasehearingbutamemberofthepubliccannotaskforacontestedcase hearing once action is taken, adding that an applicant has the protection of an appeal but members of the public can appeal only if they asked for intervention. Commissioner Springer said in the early 1990s, the Planning Commissions procedure allowed a person to make a request for standing in a contested case hearing after the staffs presentation, noting often times the public does not have sufficient information to decide whether or not there is merit to request standing until after the staffs presentation. She added that it does not seem to matter whether the Commission heard the request for standing before the staffs presentation, or after the staffs presentation, or at some early stage in the discussion like as part of the public testimony. Mr. Yuen agreed with Commissioner Springer that there are times when people think they have to request intervention to be heard; but the Planning Department is trying to make it clear to people they can make a public statement to be heard, noting a person can withdraw her/his request for a contested case hearing. For Commissioner Siracusas information, Mr. Yuen said the procedure of waiting to see what action the Commission takes before filing a request for intervention would not work. Commissioner Siracusa then suggested a hardship waiver for people like her who could not afford the $150 filing fee to intervene. MINUTESThe Commission took up the following minutes at this time, 12:12 p.m., with no one from the public in attendance. August 5, 2005 It was moved by Commissioner Siracusa and seconded by Commissioner Springerthattheminutesbeapprovedwithcorrections.Motionwasunanimouslycarriedbya voice vote of all Commissioners in attendance. ANNOUNCEMENTSThe following announcements were made at this time, 12:13 p.m. 4