Volusia Growth Management Commsiion rules committee revisits proposed changes, looks for consensus from cities

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
'Stay the course' – Larry French of Deltona, standing, asks the Volusia Growth Management Commission rules committee to "stay the course" and not be pressured to make changes to exclude the public from the process. Seated are Fred and Alice Jaeger, left, of Ormond Beach, and former Growth Management Commission member Suzanne Steiner.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Getting prepared – Attorney Paul Chipok, left, and coordinator Merry Chris Smith prepare for a meeting of the Volusia Growth Management Commission's Personnel, Operations and Procedures (POP) Committee. Other members present at the session in Orange City June 9 were Committee Chairman Gerald Brandon of Ormond Beach; Dwight Lewis and Sandy Walters, representing Volusia County; John Heaphy, representing Holly Hill; James Kerr, representing Orange City; and Growth Management Commission Chairwoman Joan Spinney. Committee members Sandy Jones and Terry Griffiths were absent.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jun 20, 2009 - 4:40:35pm

Discussion of changing the Volusia Growth Management Commission's rules marches on.

At a June 9 meeting, the commission's rules committee decided the issue of public participation in the growth-management process will be debated July 22, at a regular meeting of the Growth Management Commission.

Deciding whether members of the public can request a Volusia Growth Management Commission (VGMC) hearing was one of the scorching issues at the commission's last meeting in May.

About 100 members of the public turned out to hear the discussion, and some 30 of them addressed the commission. Most of the speakers asked the commission not to prohibit individuals from initiating hearings on proposed land-use plans.

Other proposed changes in the VGMC rules would limit participation in disputes over proposed land-use changes. Under the current rules, individuals can become "intervenors" and have standing when the VGMC considers whether to grant developers' requests. The change would mean only local governments could become intervenors.

In May, the commission sent the whole packet of proposed changes back to the rules committee for further review.

VGMC legal counsel Paul Chipok told committee members there is legal evidence to support either side of the argument.

He said the question boils down to, "No. 1, can anybody call for a public hearing, and, No. 2, can anybody be a party."

Chipok said attorney Scott Simpson, who represents the cities of Oak Hill, Holly Hill and South Daytona, is concerned that an individual citizen who doesn't like a land-use decision made by local government could use the VGMC to override that decision.

VGMC Chairwoman Joan Spinney, who attended the rules committee meeting but isn't a voting member of the committee, said she's in favor of removing standing for individuals.

Spinney said people don't listen to the rules, and try to use the VGMC to protest zoning decisions, when those decisions aren't part of the VGMC's authority.

The VGMC reviews only comprehensive land-use plans, the big picture of how land is to be used. The commission is supposed to consider the consistency of those plans with neighboring jurisdictions. Zoning, on the other hand, is a local matter to be decided by city councils and commissions.

"People keep ignoring it, after they're told," Spinney said.

She asked the committee to fight for the proposed rule changes.

Committee member Dwight Lewis agreed with her. He said the change would "streamline the process."

Committee member John Heaphy noted the rules committee was of like mind on the matter, but the whole VGMC is not.

"We've got to bring something before the commission that's going to sell," Heaphy said.

Committee Chairman Gerald Brandon agreed the commission is divided on the matter.

Attorney Chipok suggested polling the cities for their opinions on the change, and reporting the results to the VGMC.

Chipok asked the committee to consider that the changes might not reflect the will of the communities or the commission.

In that case, "Do we want to be champions of that?" he asked.

A motion to survey the cities passed, with Sandy Walters casting the only dissenting vote.

"We have had feedback," she said, pointing to comments and resolutions from city officials objecting to the change.

"This goes back to Lady Godiva," Walters said.

In that East Volusia development case, private citizens got involved in opposing a condominium project on the beach, due to environmental and traffic concerns.

A judge ultimately denied permission for the project. The losers were sore, and didn't want to lose again, Walters said.

Sierra Club member Alice Jaeger of Ormond Beach, who sat in the audience, said she was "appalled" the committee was talking about removing standing.

"You're obviously seeing the public is very concerned about this. Why don't you leave it like it is," she said, "with checks and balances."

Former VGMC member Suzanne Steiner said the current process has been in effect for 22 years, yet there have been very few cases of the public initiating hearings.

Chipok said there have been 13 requests for hearings since 2005, with only one of them caused by a citizen petition alone. Citizens petitioned to join as intervenors in two other cases.

In the other cases, either VGMC staff or local jurisdictions had also requested hearings.

Deltona resident Larry French said he remembered when citizens who tried to address city commissioners were made fun of. He told the committee to stand up to pressure to exclude the public, and "maintain a steady course."

The rules committee nixed a third proposed rule change. That change would have allowed local governments to remove their VGMC representatives at any time, without cause. That change would have allowed city officials to remove a VGMC representative they thought was going to vote against a development they favored.

Chipok noted the cities themselves have the option to create ordinances allowing them to remove their representatives at will.

"If they want to hedge their bets and change their appointments with a new administration, they can do it," he said.

In the absence of such an ordinance, however, case law says an appointee can be removed only for a good reason.

The proposed rules changes will be brought back to the Growth Management Commission in small chunks, instead of one large document, at the request of commissioners. The next VGMC meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, at Daytona Beach City Hall, 301 S. Ridgewood Ave.

The June meeting was canceled.

UPDATE 06-22-09: A rules committee meeting has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, at the Ormond Beach Regional Library, Room #3, at 30 S. Beach Street, Ormond Beach, next to the Ormond Beach City Hall.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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