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proposing, to remove responsibility from elected officials, to remove representation
<br />from local constituencies, to concentrate power in government at the top, are moves
<br />® that we oppose vehemently. These are not moves for better government. These are
<br />moves for worse government. So we would very much hope that you would, between
<br />now and the time these proposals are final, take another look at this because we are
<br />very concerned. Thank you.
<br />RAY: Because of all the confusion and misunderstanding, that's probably
<br />going to be the reason to drop some of these. But just, sort of, to take advantage of
<br />Chris being here, and a civics lesson, let him explain to you, especially in regard to the
<br />Planning Commission. These aren't changes that change anything in terms of the
<br />existing situation. They in no way, shape, or form, give more power to the Planning
<br />Commission, but I'd like Chris to explain that.
<br />SCARR: All right.
<br />RAY:
<br />about it.
<br />But we'll probably drop them because people seem so confused
<br />YUEN: From 1968, when the County first had its Charter, until 1998, the
<br />section of the Charter that discusses the Planning Commission said that the Planning
<br />Commission shall enact rules and regulations having the force and effect of law. In
<br />1998, along with some other changes that were made to the Planning Commission,
<br />which were actually more widely discussed, that section of the Planning Commission
<br />• powers was taken out. I'ye looked through the history of how this happened. This
<br />Charter Amendment came through the County Council and this section of the Charter
<br />was removed between draft 5 and draft 6, or draft 6 and draft 7, at the County Council
<br />level, and there's not any explanation in writing at the Council level why this was done,
<br />nor is there any other explanation that I've been able to discover. The difficulty that
<br />this causes is that the Planning Commission does have rules and regulations having
<br />the force and effect of law, and has had such rules and regulations for about 30 years.
<br />To give an example of the kinds of rules and regulations that they have: The Planning
<br />Commission, their actual powers deal with giving out several kinds of permits, and
<br />they're empowered to give out these permits, some of them by State Law as passed by
<br />the State Legislature, and some of them by County Laws, passed by the County
<br />Council. They have the power to give out SMA permits which are in the shoreline area.
<br />There's a special permit which is in the Agricultural District, and on the County level,
<br />they have the power to give out something called a Use Permit, where certain uses are
<br />generally not allowed in zone, but can be allowed with a Use Permit. To give you an
<br />example of a Use Permit; in a residential district, if someone wants to put in a church,
<br />the Zoning Code, which is,passed by the County Council, says that you can put a
<br />church in a residential district but you need a Use Permit from the Planning
<br />Commission in order to get that. So,. the Planning Commission has some rules that
<br />implement how you go about applying for, and receiving, permits like this. At really
<br />roughly the same time that this Charter Amendment was being considered, the County
<br />Council, in 1996, passed a new version of the Zoning Code and it said that the
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