TESTIMONY
George Janes, Urban Planner, on the Impact and Implications of New City Planning Commission Authorizations
3:31:54
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119 sec
George Janes, an urban planner, critiques the proposed City Planning Commission (CPC) authorizations that would allow unilateral decisions on zoning exceptions without council or public input.
- Janes argues these new authorizations undermine the council's role and democracy by bypassing elected representatives.
- Highlighting the lack of accountability in the CPC, Janes notes the importance of council involvement in land use decisions.
- He warns that though the authorizations might seem trivial, they set a dangerous precedent for diluting public and council oversight.
- Janes emphasizes that efficiency should not override democratic principles in land use processes.
- Urges the council to exercise veto power and maintain their critical check on the CPC.
George Janes
3:31:54
I'm George James.
3:31:55
I'm an urban planner, and I'm here speaking for myself.
3:31:59
Whenever there are changes to a thousand pages of zoning, there's gonna be good and bad.
3:32:04
And there's some great stuff in economic opportunity, but there are also some dangerous ideas.
3:32:09
The new CPC authorizations are a terrible idea.
3:32:14
The CPC proposes to grant them cells the power to unilaterally authorize applications that want to break zoning regulations.
3:32:22
The CPC would grant this authorization with no input from council or the affected council member, they would not even hold a public hearing.
3:32:32
If a citizen would significantly impact by one of these applications as CPC would not hear them, and their council member would have no recourse.
3:32:40
The proposed text includes Just a few authorizations, and they are for relatively small things.
3:32:47
So you might think, what's the harm?
3:32:49
These things are trivial.
3:32:51
There are many in my profession who believe that the council's role in the land use process is too large.
3:32:57
They think that council is an impediment causing delays adding expense, and they would be things would be more efficient to let CPC handle things.
3:33:06
And they are right.
3:33:07
Our land use process could be more efficient.
3:33:10
But no one voted for the CPC.
3:33:12
They aren't accountable to the people.
3:33:14
Yes, our land use process could be more efficient.
3:33:17
But democracy isn't designed for efficiency.
3:33:20
The people's representatives need to have a final say on land use matters because the council provides a check on the role of an unelected, unaccountable city planning commission.
3:33:29
It's an essential function.
3:33:31
These new authorizations, those plans for housing opportunity, they need to be removed.
3:33:36
Exercise the power of your red pen, retain the council's critical role in the land use process.
3:33:42
Thank you for all you do.
3:33:43
I'll be submitting written comments at a later date.
Kevin C. Riley
3:33:45
Thank you, Mister James.
3:33:46
Were you again so far?
George Janes
3:33:49
Oh, I am I am against certainly that component of this.
