CYPRESS : City Planning Panel May Be Reinstalled
The City Council is considering re-establishing the city’s Planning Commission, which was disbanded in 1978.
The idea, first raised in April, was discussed by the council at its meeting earlier this week. Councilman Walter Bowman, the leading proponent of bringing back the city board, said it would give residents a better chance to react to such issues as conditional use permits and land-use variances.
“I believe we’re the only city in Orange County that doesn’t have a planning commission,” he said. “I think it’s all about whether or not you’re going to have good government, and I think good government requires that you have a hearing process. And we need more than we have now.”
City staff members estimate that it would cost $94,000 a year to run the commission, City Manager Darrell Essex said.
Bowman countered that according to his own estimates, the cost would be much lower, about $23,000 a year.
The city staff will determine what planning commissions cost in other cities of comparable size and report back to the City Council in January.
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