The Commissioner — Winter 2008

Commissioner's Voice

Education and the Planning Commission

By Gene Moser
Former Planning Commissioner, Summit County, Utah

Arguably, community planning is the most important responsibility of local governments. The conversion of pastoral scenes into buildings and roads is an action that will last 100 years or more. You can't start over again when mistakes are made. Because planning is so important, the role of the planning commission becomes a key ingredient in the success of community planning efforts.

The planning commission:

• Conducts the visioning process, determines the best possible future for their community, and makes recommendations to the elected officials for a comprehensive plan and regulations that best serve the health, safety, and welfare needs of their community.
• Reviews and processes applications for development. This is often very time consuming and can prove to be a distraction in performing other tasks and responsibilities.
• Must stay in tune with their regulations, changes in state code, and common law court decisions that influence their recommendations and decisions. Planning can be a legislative process, an administrative action, or at times a quasi-judicial proceeding. Developing policies require considerable public input, which can become an acrimonious process. The creation of regulations must be done carefully, with proper attention given to the rights of both the property owner and the community. Consideration of due process rights, both procedural and substantive, is important.

The proper conduct of meetings, with legal, political, and ethical implications and in full view of the public, is crucial. In short, community planning is complicated; it offers great opportunities, but with those opportunities come responsibilities. Education becomes extremely important.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: "Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary." A person can be appointed to the planning commission with no knowledge of municipal regulations or state code or how to conduct meetings and hearings.

As a leader in your community, you must make study a part of your routine. First a learner, then a teacher. Develop and adopt a continuing planning education program not only for new officials, but also to educate all of those involved or interested in your planning commission activities. Education will produce enlightened decision makers and an informed public. All of us committed to planning must take advantage of every opportunity to learn and then to teach what planning is, how it is administered, and how we can create the best possible future for our communities.