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Meeting canceled when agenda not posted
Terri Jo Neff
Special to the news-sun
The delayed posting of an agenda led to last week's Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting being cancelled just hours before it was to be held. According to Board of Supervisors' chairman Richard Searle, planning department officials did not comply with Arizona's Open Meeting Law, which requires agendas to be posted at least 24 hours before a meeting.
The agenda for the Oct. 10 meeting wasn't posted at the county building in Bisbee until the morning of the meeting, violating the 24-hour rule. The county's Web site, which the planning department also uses to display agendas, wasn't updated until the morning of the meeting either.
The commission was to hear two items of local interest, including the tentative plat of a conservation subdivision at Kings Ranch in Palominas. This type of zoning received attention during the Smith Ranch debate and is expected to come up during next month's review of a rezoning request for J-Six Ranch (formerly Easter Mountain Ranch).
Another item of interest on the agenda was an application by Jim Schmidt for special use consideration of 38 acres near Dragoon. Schmidt wants permission to operate a gunsmithing and test firing range. The property is currently zoned RU4 and is within the Rural designation on the county's comprehensive plan.
Staffing shortages, combined with the federal holiday on Oct. 8, apparently resulted in an employee's forgetting to post the agenda. The problem is another blow for the burdened staff, which has lost three key employees in recent months.
No intentional misconduct is suspected, but Searle is reviewing the matter with Planning Director Judy Anderson and new County Administrator Michael Ortega.
"Citizens have a level of expectations from the county, and this is something we will address and make sure that it does not happen again," he commented. "I understand people's frustrations, as it's very frustrating for me too."
Searle added that officials are also reviewing whether the Open Meeting Law was violated for the District 3 Board of Adjustment meeting held Oct. 9 in Benson. Searle, who represents District 3, said the meeting should be re-held "if there's a possibility the requirement was not met."
Cancelling the meeting inconvenienced several residents, but "we need to make sure things are done properly," said Searle. Four of the five docket items will be heard instead at the commission's next meeting Nov. 14. The fifth will be heard in December.
Delay of the October items until November shouldn't postpone the J-Six Ranch hearing already scheduled for Nov. 14. Developer Duff Hearon said planning officials told him the hearing, which is the first major rezoning issue in the J-Six / Mescal area since Smith Ranch, is still set for November.
The county's Web site is www.co.cochise.az.us/. Click on Planning & Zoning on the right hand column. Then click on the Make Your Selection option under Other Planning Division Topics in the middle of the page, and select either Board of Adjustment or Planning Commission. From those pages you can click on View Meeting Schedules.
Special to the news-sun
The delayed posting of an agenda led to last week's Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting being cancelled just hours before it was to be held. According to Board of Supervisors' chairman Richard Searle, planning department officials did not comply with Arizona's Open Meeting Law, which requires agendas to be posted at least 24 hours before a meeting.
The agenda for the Oct. 10 meeting wasn't posted at the county building in Bisbee until the morning of the meeting, violating the 24-hour rule. The county's Web site, which the planning department also uses to display agendas, wasn't updated until the morning of the meeting either.
The commission was to hear two items of local interest, including the tentative plat of a conservation subdivision at Kings Ranch in Palominas. This type of zoning received attention during the Smith Ranch debate and is expected to come up during next month's review of a rezoning request for J-Six Ranch (formerly Easter Mountain Ranch).
Another item of interest on the agenda was an application by Jim Schmidt for special use consideration of 38 acres near Dragoon. Schmidt wants permission to operate a gunsmithing and test firing range. The property is currently zoned RU4 and is within the Rural designation on the county's comprehensive plan.
Staffing shortages, combined with the federal holiday on Oct. 8, apparently resulted in an employee's forgetting to post the agenda. The problem is another blow for the burdened staff, which has lost three key employees in recent months.
No intentional misconduct is suspected, but Searle is reviewing the matter with Planning Director Judy Anderson and new County Administrator Michael Ortega.
"Citizens have a level of expectations from the county, and this is something we will address and make sure that it does not happen again," he commented. "I understand people's frustrations, as it's very frustrating for me too."
Searle added that officials are also reviewing whether the Open Meeting Law was violated for the District 3 Board of Adjustment meeting held Oct. 9 in Benson. Searle, who represents District 3, said the meeting should be re-held "if there's a possibility the requirement was not met."
Cancelling the meeting inconvenienced several residents, but "we need to make sure things are done properly," said Searle. Four of the five docket items will be heard instead at the commission's next meeting Nov. 14. The fifth will be heard in December.
Delay of the October items until November shouldn't postpone the J-Six Ranch hearing already scheduled for Nov. 14. Developer Duff Hearon said planning officials told him the hearing, which is the first major rezoning issue in the J-Six / Mescal area since Smith Ranch, is still set for November.
The county's Web site is www.co.cochise.az.us/. Click on Planning & Zoning on the right hand column. Then click on the Make Your Selection option under Other Planning Division Topics in the middle of the page, and select either Board of Adjustment or Planning Commission. From those pages you can click on View Meeting Schedules.
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