[FEB. 3, 2006]
Two county planning groups met on Wednesday
evening to review county planning and zoning issues. The major
subject of both meetings was a plan to reorganize and change the
membership of the Logan County Regional Planning Commission. The
major emphases of the changes are to reduce the number of county
board members that serve on the commission and bring more community
involvement to the commission.
The planning commission was organized in the 1960s to develop and
maintain land use plans. Zoning change requests are first brought
before the commission for their assessment against the county
land-use plans and a recommendation for or against it to the county
board.
Six of the commission's 17 members are county board members as
well. Board members often abstain from voting at the commission
because they would be voting on it when it comes before the board.
Those six commission members are six of 12 county board members who
vote a second time when it comes before the county board. "This
creates a double jeopardy," Dale Voyles pointed out. Dick Logan, who
serves on both, said, "That's why I, and several other board
members, often don't vote on zoning brought before the commission."
Bill Glaze, commission chairman, made a recommendation to change
the structure of the commission membership. In it there would be a
reduction to 15 members.
The following six would serve as ex officio members:
Chairman of the
county board
Mayor of the city of
Lincoln
Mayor of the city of
Mount Pulaski
Mayor of the city of
Atlanta
Village president of
Elkhart
Logan County highway
superintendent (nonvoting)
Nine at-large appointments would be made with the following
criteria:
The appointments
would be made by chairman of the county board, subject to
confirmation by the board.
Two shall be elected
officials: one a county board member and one a Lincoln City
Council alderman.
One member shall be
from one of the other municipalities or a township in Logan
County that is not represented by one of the ex officio members
above.
An appointed member
shall not be considered a representative of more than one
constituency, government unit or interest group.
In addition, at-large
members will be limited to two consecutive, three-year terms of
office, and then they must take one off. Ex officio membership
would be controlled by the elected term of office that they
serve: i.e., mayors and aldermen have four-year terms and would
fill the commission position as long as they hold office. The
county board chairman is a two-year position.
The county engineer would become a nonvoting member. His input is
important in this area; we need an unbiased, honest opinion on the
merits of the each situation, Voyles said. This would allow the
person in that position, now filled by county engineer Bret Aukamp,
to speak as a professional consultant.
The reorganization will dilute the county board participation and
get more participation from the citizens of Logan County, Dale
Voyles said.
Bob Farmer, county board chairman, recommended Dean Sasse of
Atlanta and Jean Ann Hutchison of Lincoln to the at-large
membership. They will be presented for board approval in February.
If the county board approves the reorganization, the commission
would end all terms and begin seating new members at the March 1
meeting. When the at-large membership is filled, they will draw
straws for a one-, two- or three-year term to begin their rotating
terms. This allows for a more even turnover of membership in the
future.
The new reorganization was discussed by the planning and zoning
committee and will go to the full board with a recommendation to
approve it.
The county board workshop meets on Feb. 16 and their voting
session on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Logan County Courthouse.
From the LCRPC site:
Logan County Regional Planning
Commission:
The LCRPC is an independent commission
formed by the County Board in the late 60s. The purpose of the
commission is to develop and maintain land use plans for the county
as well as the municipalities in Logan County. The land use plans
are called the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan may also
include other goals of the County and the Cities, such as economic
development, residential development, increasing parks and
recreation areas and other quality of life issues.
The mission of the LCRPC in its
simplest form is to develop plans based on input from the public and
use those plans to make recommendations to the County Board or
Cities regarding rezoning requests and extensions of infrastructure.
Commercial and Industrial areas should be developed around
transportation hubs. Residential development should have proper
barriers or buffer zones from the commercial zoning classifications.
The members of the Regional Planning
Commission include the Mayors of Lincoln, Mt Pulaski and Atlanta as
well as members of the County Board and other non-elected officials
from the community. Current members are Dick Logan, Dale Voyles, Bob
Farmer, Rick Aylesworth, Vicki Hasprey, Pat O'Neill, Bill Glaze,
Bill Martin, Beth Davis, Derrick Crane, Steve Anderson, Bret Aukamp,
Gerald Lolling, Delmar Veech, Tom Cash, Carol Gustafson and Judi
Graff.
The LCRPC meets on the 1st Wednesday
of every month at the Logan County Courthouse.
Phil Mahler is the county Planning and
Zoning director. He coordinates Planning and Zoning activities for
the county as well as serves the City of Lincoln on their Planning
Commission.
Dewey Colter serves as Logan County
Zoning Officer.
Logan County Board Planning and Zoning
Committee:
This group is a standing committee of
the county board that makes recommendations to the County Board
regarding Planning and Zoning issues. Recently they have begun to
meet monthly, with Dewey Colter. Dewey is the County Administrator
as well as the County Zoning Officer. Current County Board members
on this committee are Voyles, Hasprey, Aylesworth, Logan, O'Neill
and Farmer.
