Commission discusses adding conflict-of-interest disclosure and changing public-hearing order

At the Feb. 10, 2026 meeting the Woods Cross Planning Commission discussed two procedural recommendations intended to clarify meeting order and guard against conflicts of interest.

Commissioner David Lewis proposed adding a conflict-of-interest disclosure to the agenda and moving the public hearing to after initial commission discussion so commissioners would hear staff and applicant information before receiving public comment. "The first recommendation would be making sure there was a conflict-of-interest disclosure for anyone to whom that might apply," Commissioner David Lewis IV said.

Community Development Director Curtis Poole confirmed staff can place items on the agenda in the requested order and said the commission could adopt the practice. Poole noted potential concerns about a City Council liaison hearing commission deliberations and later reviewing the same item at Council, saying a council member "could not look at a situation objectively during a Council meeting if they have sat through a Planning Commission meeting with discussions and decisions being made." The commission indicated the changes could be formalized and the conflict-of-interest disclosure would be added after minutes on future agendas.

The discussion resulted in direction to staff to update the commission agenda to include an explicit conflict-of-interest disclosure after minutes and to structure public hearings as: staff report; applicant comments; commission discussion; public hearing; and action. Staff will present the updated agenda format at future meetings for confirmation.