Orange County Almanac

Standing behind the front counter of the Irvine planning department is quite an experience for city planner Glen Worthington.

“Where else besides a front counter can a planner talk to someone who is proposing a $1-million development project, and the next minute help a homeowner figure out how to turn a back-of-an-envelope sketch into a room addition?” Worthington wrote in a recent issue of Planning magazine.

“And where else does a planner face the challenge of explaining with a straight face why the viewing of ‘specified anatomical parts’ requires a conditional-use permit, as I did once when reviewing a request for an adult theater?” he continued.