CHC 1979-03-06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MR. FUME: I guess so. MRS. KOBAYASHI : - What is your relationship with the Planning Commission? I keep reading what are your duties and the duties of, the Planning Commission and I think they are about the same. It seems there are so many similarities. You are the administrator, is that what I read? I wonder does the Planning Commission do the same thing that the Planning Department does? It seems as though they give the final okay to everything you do, orr is that incorrect? MR. FUKE: The Planning Commission generally has two functions. One is to have authority to make final decisions in certain areas like Special Use Permits in agri- cultural districts granting variances. Their other primary function is to serve as a sounding board for proposals that the Planning Director initiates. The Planning Director, on the other hand, has the responsibility to prepare things which he feels would be inthe best interests of the public. Sending it to the County Council through the Mayor and the Planning . Commission. So when it goes through the Planning Commission it is kind of like testing it. Additionally, the Planning Director would have some of the powers that the Planning .Commission also has in terms of making final decisions. The final decision powers thatthe director has right now would be like approving, subdivisions, granting building permits , those kinds of things. So you have both regulatory functions and advisory functions and the Planning Commission and Planning Director have both. MRS. KOBAYASHI : There. is some duplication then. . MR. FUKE: There is a��,sharing of responsib- ilities but yes, ' I' suppose to some extent there is a dupli- cation there. MRS. KOBAYASHI : When _you mentioned that you wanted to assume some of the variance 'functions, was that to sort of ease the workload from the commission? MR. FUME: ' So that commission can devote more of its time in reviewing broad policy matters. You take, for example, the commission has been meeting about three times a month and almostA' 11their agenda is filled with variances and special permits like that and when we submit a major document they find themselves with very little time to review. I can sympathize with the workload that the commission has to go through and so what I 'm thinking about is that if we relieve some of the ministerial kinds of functions that presently the commission has then perhaps the commission would be able to devote moreof its attention and time to broader policy matters. MRS. KOBAYASHI : Do you know what the feeling of the present commission is as far as what its duties are? 28 -