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Planning board asks commission to tighten public‑participation timing, add ROW vacations to notice rules
Summary
After public concern over a four‑year gap between a neighborhood meeting and the board hearing, the Planning & Zoning Board voted to ask the City Commission to amend the public‑participation rules to include right‑of‑way vacations and to require participation meetings no earlier than one year and no later than 30 days before a board hearing.
Following extended debate over the Coconut Drive right‑of‑way request and concerns that an earlier neighborhood meeting took place four years ago, several board members proposed amending the city’s public‑participation rules to ensure more timely neighborhood outreach.
Board Member Jacqueline Scott argued that public participation was a substantive part of the board’s work and that a four‑year gap between a civic association meeting and a quasi‑judicial hearing undermined neighborhood notice. Other members suggested different time windows; some favored six months, others 18 months. After discussion, the board coalesced around a recommendation that the City Commission add vacation of rights‑of‑way to the list of application types subject to the public‑participation requirement and that the public‑participation meeting not be held earlier than one year before the Planning & Zoning Board hearing (and still meet existing notice windows such as the 30‑day mailing requirement).
A motion to instruct the chair to communicate this recommendation to the City Commission was made, seconded, and passed by unanimous roll call. The board asked staff to prepare language for Commission consideration.
