Monday night was Planning Commission night in Whitewater. The agenda for the meeting is available online.
The Commission selected a chairman (Greg Meyer) & vice chairman (Lynn Binnie), and representatives from Planning to the Community Development Authority (Greg Meyer) and Urban Forestry Commission (Karen Coburn).
Every nominee was uncontested and supported unanimously. One can have consensus, although I’d think some ideological division would be useful to the city. I’ve been critical of some recent and unanimous decisions of the commission, but I’m unsure where this commission will be in six months or so.
Here’s why.
First, although the city administration will soon have a leadership vacancy, there’s been a decline in managerial leadership at city hall long before the city manager’s recent announcement of a job offer to become Walworth County highway commissioner.
Clarity and consistency will be more important than ever – decisions that involve simply a hodgepodge will confuse the devil out of businesses and business prospects.
Second, lack of clarity also puts at risk a commercial re-zoning initiative that’s in process. It’s a necessary step, but it will be an insufficient one if clear zoning fuel runs though a clogged planning filter. To make re-zoning effective, businesses will need to know that revised zoning ordinances will be embraced at all parts of local government. (Members of the zoning re-write team come from different parts of the community, including the Planning Commission.)
Considering the Planning Commission’s recent work, I’m not sure how it will hold up.
The recent 5.14 session was a routine one, but routine isn’t in the offing for the months ahead (and the city will be better without the routine of these recent years).
Will this commission keep up? I don’t know.