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Resident urges stronger zoning language; county says technical changes go to Planning and Zoning Board
Summary
At the March 20 meeting, resident Judy Prince told commissioners she submitted revisions to a draft zoning document and urged substantive corrections — including fixing a solar section that referenced wind terminology — before the March 26 Planning & Zoning hearing. County Counselor Jim Emerson said grammar can be fixed now but technical changes must come from the Zoning Board.
A resident told the Crawford County Board of Commissioners on March 20 that a draft zoning document contains both grammatical errors and substantive technical problems she believes could weaken the county’s position in future court challenges.
Ms. Judy Prince said she provided proposed revisions to Zoning Administrator May Smith and to Mr. Joshua Albin in the Zoning Department but that the corrections had not appeared on the county website. Prince told commissioners she wants grammatical corrections and more substantive changes — she cited, as an example, a ‘‘solar’’ section that includes wind terminology such as rotors and blades — to be addressed before the Planning & Zoning public hearing scheduled for March 26. "I just do not believe it is strong enough," the minutes report.
County Counselor Jim Emerson responded that the document is still in draft form. He said grammatical edits can be made immediately but that any technical changes must go through the Planning & Zoning Board process; he said he would confer with Zoning Administrator May Smith and expects Mr. Albin to present the item at the public hearing. When Commissioner Wood asked whether the public would have access to any revisions prior to the commissioners’ review, Emerson said there would likely be time between Planning & Zoning’s recommendation and the commissioners’ consideration for the public to view revisions.
The board did not take formal action on the zoning draft at the March 20 meeting. The minutes record Commissioner Wood and Mr. Emerson explaining the procedural path: the document will be refined by Zoning staff, reviewed by the Planning & Zoning Board at its March 26 public hearing, then may be forwarded to the commissioners for approval. The minutes show no written responses from Mr. Albin on the record and no immediate timeline beyond the March 26 hearing.
Planning & Zoning will hold a public hearing on the draft on March 26 at 5:30 PM on the third floor of the Crawford County Courthouse; Ms. Prince’s request that revisions be posted for public review prior to the commissioners’ consideration was noted on the record.
