02-05-2007 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Board Composition In August 2002, the Planning Commissioners Journal sent out a short survey to planners and planning commissioners on our e-mail list. The aim was to supplement Greg Dale's and Elaine Cogan's articles in our Fall 2002 issue (Who Shall Serve? Public Interest vs. Special Interest and Does Your Planning Board Reflect Your Community) with some feedback on the composition of planning commissions. We received an astonishing (to us) number of replies, hearing back from 242 of the 620 individuals we e-mailed. Bear in mind, however, that the results were not based on a statistically composed random sample. Nevertheless, we feel we learned much -- and came away with some surprises -- from the feedback many of you generously provided. Achieving Diversity What struck us most was the very wide diversity in backgrounds of planning board members -- and the relatively small number of communities having criteria for appointment of planning commissioners (beyond residency). As one town clerk from New York put it: "We do have diversity. However, I don't think we actually planned it." Nevertheless, a number of communities have made efforts to achieve diversity. For example, John Kross, Community Development Director for Queen Creek, Arizona, reported that in his community about one-third of the population is of Hispanic origin: "Our Mayor and Council have made a point to consider the ethnic balance of the community, as well as gender balance of all boards and commissions. However, this is not a prescriptive policy." A number of replies to our survey noted the value of having individuals with backgrounds in certain fields. According to Pete Dickinson, Planning Director for the City of Pullman, Washington, while his city has no formal criteria for appointment, "we usually like to have at least one real estate developer or broker on the planning commission ... we also like to have representation from all quadrants of the city." Russ Soyring, Planning Director for the City of Traverse City, Michigan, feels that "having an architect on the Commission helps fellow Commissioners understand building plans better," while Marty Ryan, City Planner for Cedar Falls, Iowa, reports that his city seeks to have a geographically balanced commission, without a "clustering" of members from one or two parts of the city. Timothy Huey, Planning Director for Scott County, Iowa, noted that "given the importance of agriculture in Scott County, there's an effort to have individuals with farming backgrounds serve on the commission." Currently Scott County's seven member commission includes three farmers. Huey did add, however, that "a good planning commissioner is someone who has a good sense of the community character and understands that commissioners represent the whole community and not just their neighborhood or profession."