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Commissioners direct staff to publish draft ordinance and start 15‑day public review after inadvertent release
Summary
After draft land‑use text was released to some outside reviewers via a records request, county legal recommended publishing the draft; the commission directed staff to post the draft immediately, start the statutory 15‑day review period, and include public submissions as 'input received' in the council packet.
Manning County planning staff and legal counsel briefed the commission July 14 about a draft land‑use ordinance that had been circulated outside the intended review group through a records request. Planning Director Hal Jensen said outside reviewers and special‑interest groups had submitted comments and asked the commission for direction on whether to publish the draft and extend the review schedule.
County legal counsel Jonathan Radford advised publishing the draft ordinance and making iterations available, noting the county’s statutory duty to provide 15 days’ public notice before the council meeting. Radford said publishing would increase the amount of material submitted for the planning council to review but would improve fairness and transparency after the document already had been released to some groups.
Commissioners debated the tradeoff between staying on the original timetable and avoiding perceived favoritism. Several commissioners said the document would never be perfect and favored moving forward while allowing public comment. The board directed staff to publish the draft immediately (which begins the 15‑day review period), to include public comments in the packet as “input received,” and to proceed with the planning council public hearing thereafter. The motion/direction carried by voice vote.
Commissioners instructed staff not to make further substantive changes in response to individual emails before the hearing, and to let the public hearing process and the planning council determine what input is incorporated into the ordinance.
