Planning commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to forward a text amendment to City Council that would add a city council member as a nonvoting member of the Historic Commission.
The amendment would change Chapter 12.26.01 of the Middletown development code (the section governing review and decision-making authorities) to explicitly list a city council representative among the Historic Commission’s nonvoting participants. The Planning Commission’s vote sends the change to City Council for final action.
The change is intended to improve communication between the Historic Commission and City Council. Roger Daniel, a member of the Planning Commission who said he has served on the Historic Commission for many years, told the commission the proposed language is “a noncontroversial text amendment” and that adding a council member would encourage attendance and coordination across several historic districts. “We need to make sure that [historic districts] are mapped out properly,” Daniel said.
City planning staff presented the draft amendment and explained the language being proposed appears on screen and in the staff report. No members of the public spoke in opposition at the public hearing; no substantive department comments were recorded in the staff report for this item.
The Planning Commission moved and seconded the measure and then recorded unanimous “yes” votes from Will Parsons, AJ Mentel, Gabe Gabriel Schanlein, Nancy Griffith, Roger Daniel and Tara Ramsey. The commission’s action was to forward the text amendment to City Council for consideration; the ordinance will not take effect until City Council acts.
Commission discussion touched on practical matters such as representation across multiple historic districts and the utility of having a council member coordinate with both the Planning Commission and Historic Commission. Staff noted the proposal only creates a nonvoting seat; it does not change the commission’s decision authority.
The item will appear on an upcoming City Council agenda for final adoption. If Council adopts the ordinance, City Council will designate the nonvoting representative as the ordinance specifies.