P&Z plans Comp Plan workshop

The Planning & Zoning Commission has scheduled a workshop for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the mid-term amendments to the 2010 Comprehensive Plan.

The two most important words in that previous paragraph are "workshop" and "discuss." The reasons those words are so important is because they officially designate this meeting as one where no actions will be taken to change, approve or disapprove any these mid-term amendments. This will be, as the agenda plainly states, simply a "workshop" designed to facilitate "a discussion" on them.

So, you may be asking, after all this time, after all these meetings, what’s left to discuss? I can only guess because the on-line agenda was not accompanied by any amplifying information. But here’s my guess, for what it’s worth (and my guess along with a little more than $2 will buy you a gallon of 87-octane gas at just about any gas station in town). During the recent joint City Council-P&Z workshop on this matter, the staff was asked to prepare a couple of zoning ordinances to create some new zoning districts; for example, a zoning category that would allow for mixed-use developments and another that could be specifically applied for office buildings. The language of those ordinances has not seen the light of day anywhere that I am aware of and need to be outlined and discussed before any future action can be taken on them. What better opportunity than a workshop such as this to discuss those proposed ordinances?

Again, that’s just a guess.

Now it’s your turn. You’re free to have your own guesses as well. And, if you would like to wait until Tuesday’s workshop to make your guesses or to say anything else about Comp Plan amendments, there will be the regular Citizens Comments opportunity prior to any discussion among the commissioners.