Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society
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Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
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THE NEED FOR PREDICTABILITY March 6, 2006
Common CI Issues & Problems In Josephine County A common theme to all the citizen involvement (CI) issues and problems in Josephine County is a CI program that can be improved.1 According to the Oregon Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) the first 10 of the following CI issues and problems are common statewide.2Oregon CIAC Observations On The Need For Predictability & Suggestions CIAC Observations 4 "Planning is a process for making decisions about how a community expects to use its land and resources. CI during that process is vital, but such involvement cannot go on forever. At some point, the governing body must make its decisions and carry them out.""The extent to which developers, land owners, utility firms, and other members of the community can rely on a plan’s decisions is generally referred to as predictability. Without it a comprehensive plan has little or not value. But the need for predictability and the need for CI sometimes clash." "Suppose, for example, that a city is considering rezoning an area from single-family residential to multifamily residential. City officials work hard to get the public involved. They send out mailings and run newspaper ads to explain how the rezoning will allow apartments in the area. They conduct several workshops and public hearings. They receive a great deal of testimony, most of it favorable, and they proceed to rezone the area." "A year later, a developer proposes a new apartment complex in that area. Several neighbors object, but the city rejects their complaints. City officials tell them, "This areas has been rezoned for multifamily dwellings; the builder is completely within his rights to build apartments there." "The concerned citizens might argue that the city is failing to provide adequate CI. But the city has already had extensive public participation. Now city officials are simply standing by the decisions that grew out of that earlier involvement." More Information The Need for Predictability — continued. "The need for predictability doesn’t mean that a plan can never be changed or that a decision should never be reconsidered. But the whole idea behind planning is to have the community agree on where certain types of land uses and public facilities like streets and sewers should go. Once such agreements have been reached and adopted in the plan, the plan cannot be reopened every time someone objects." CIAC Suggestions.4 "Emphasize the need for citizen participation early, when the plans and policies are being developed, not after they are being applied. Document the CI that occurred during the plan’s development, so that citizens will know that its policies are based on extensive citizen input." More Information. Would you like to learn more? Contact a member of the Hugo Land Use Committee.
Disclaimer. This brochure is as much about providing information and provoking questions as it is about opinions concerning the adequacy of findings of fact and land use decisions. It does not provide recommendations to citizens and it is not legal advice. It does not take the place of a lawyer. If citizens use information contained in this paper, it is their personal responsibility to make sure that the facts and general information contained in it are applicable to their situation.
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@ 2010 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
