Orem planning commission chair outlines training, bylaws and calls for regular council-commission meetings

Madeline Cohen, chair of the Orem Planning Commission, told the City Council at a work session that the commission has instituted new training, adopted bylaws and changed meeting formats to make its work more consistent and more transparent.

Cohen said the commission has focused on clarifying its two roles — legislative recommendations to council and administrative final decisions on certain applications — and on improving training, staff reports and public materials so members and the public better understand the process. “Our role is to be recommending a recommendation body to the city council on legislative matters,” Cohen said. “We really ask lots of questions and dive down into a lot because we really take what we do seriously.”

The commission chair outlined a list of changes adopted over the last 18 months: formalized bylaws, extra training (including conferences hosted by the American Planning Association), a binder of reference materials and “cheat sheets” for common code and zoning comparisons, revised staff reports, use of consent agendas for routine administrative items, and new…