P&Z schedules weird special meeting for a single, non-action consent item

Consent agendas are handy items, especially for municipal legislative bodies such as a city council or a planning and zoning commission. They provide the means to package routine committee reports, board meeting minutes, and other non-controversial items not requiring discussion or independent action as one agenda item. This allows that legislative body to decide the fate of anywhere from two to 200 agenda items with one vote. However, that means a consent agenda containing one item is an oxymoron, like plastic glass, liquid gas, original copies, etc.

But that’s just what next Wednesday’s Planning & Zoning Commission agenda consists of: One single item and it’s listed as a consent agenda item, which it can’t be since it must be, by definition, considered individually. Not only that, planning commissioners are being dragged to City Hall at 6:30 p.m. for a special called meeting to consider this item.

At least I think that’s the reason this special meeting is called. It’s hard to tell, because the agenda doesn’t specify exactly what the commission is supposed to do with this item. Consider it? Approve it? Recommend the City Council approve it? Admire its many cul-de-sacs that will go a long way to reducing safety and increasing road wear and tear in this proposed new home development on the south side of 1800 Windy Hill Road? I have no idea because the agenda doesn’t specify what, if any, action the commission is supposed to take.

And, if they do decide to take any action, would that even be legal since the agenda doesn’t mention that any action might be taken?

And why call a special meeting in which commissioners are not asked to take any action? That seems like a strange thing to do in a regular meeting, but in a special one????

I’ve posed these questions to city staff, but it’s the holiday season so no telling if I’ll receive any kind of reply.

The whole thing seems rushed, to me, not all that well thought out and quite likely an unnecessary interruption in the holiday schedule of the planning commissioners.