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Board weighs an audit of 2016 Growth Policy to guide any update
Summary
Board member Kent Hanawalt urged a systematic audit of the 2016 Growth Policy's implementation table to identify completed actions, obstacles, and items that should be removed before deciding whether to develop a new growth policy; members debated whether staff or a consultant should complete the review.
Board member Kent Hanawalt told the Planning Board that the statutory review of the 2016 Growth Policy should begin with a simple audit of the implementation table rather than immediately starting a new policy effort. "What have we done? And what are we in the process of? What, are we still working on that are lower priority? And what we determined is just not feasible," he said, urging the board to use that audit as a foundation for any new policy work.
Members discussed the practicalities of that approach: Lawson and others explained the growth policy is a visioning (nonregulatory) document spanning about 18 listed partner departments and agencies, and some items may need outreach to outside agencies. Several members said a consultant historically handled that audit as part of an RFP scope, while others cautioned that relying exclusively on consultants risks duplicating work and that staff capacity is limited.
Kent and other board members emphasized that the audit would produce a prioritized list — completed items, ongoing items, nonfeasible items — to inform whether to amend the current policy or pursue a new one. The board agreed the status report requested of planning staff will serve as a starting point for that review.
