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Orange supervisors set July 27 hearing to take public input on proposed Wal-Mart Date published: 7/2/2009
BY ROBIN KNEPPER
Orange County supervisors have scheduled a July 27 public hearing on a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Wilderness battlefield area. The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the Orange County High School auditorium. At their meeting Tuesday night, supervisors said they would not vote July 27 on the special-use permit to build the 138,000-square-foot store. They will, however, hold their regularly scheduled second meeting of the month July 28. Also at Tuesday's meeting, County Attorney Sharon Pan-dak presented a few scenarios for altering the composition of the 10-member Planning Commission. The commission now consists of two members from each of the county's five magisterial districts. Supervisor Zack Burkett had suggested the reorganization at the board's retreat in early January. He noted that commission Chairman Will Likins was his opponent in the 2007 race for the District 2 board seat, a situation he described as "awkward." The Board of Supervisors can change the composition of the commission and should do so by ordinance, according to Pandak. Board Chairman Lee Frame, formerly a Planning Commission member, said he was happy with the makeup of the advisory commission. He noted that having 10 members helps the panel to do more work. "I like a lot of different views," he said, "but there's more than a little bit of chaos." Supervisor Mark Johnson said the Planning Commission "is out of step with the board" and takes on issues that cost the county staff time and money. "They spend a lot of time on things the supervisors aren't interested in," Johnson said. "We wind up with a dysfunctional process when the Planning Commission is doing things the supervisors don't want. If we were on the same page, there would be a better working relationship." Burkett agreed. "A lot of expense gets chewed up when it's already known how the board [of supervisors] will vote." At the January retreat, a majority of supervisors--Teel Goodwin, Johnson and Burkett--said they would support Wal-Mart's proposal. The Planning Commission last week recommended approval of the project after holding a public hearing and two additional meetings on the matter. Goodwin said he was happy with the present makeup of the commission. He appointed both of the members from his district. But he said he would be concerned about the size of the group if the county needed to be divided into more than five magisterial districts. Supervisor Teri Pace suggested the commission be reconstituted with seven members--one appointed by each of the five supervisors and two at-large members. Pandak noted that the easiest thing for supervisors to do would be to dissolve the present commission and start a new one. Frame asked Pandak for more details and noted that there would be more debate after looking at various proposals. Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
using an agenda. Take it not a self motivateed agenda one that reaches a certainty.
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