OXNARD : Planning Board May Be Abolished

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday will again consider abolishing the city’s Planning Commission, this time in favor of a land-use committee that comprises a hearing officer and two community representatives.

The council decided last month to postpone a decision on a city staff recommendation that would have replaced the five-member Planning Commission with a single hearing officer, preferably a lawyer or planning expert.

City officials characterized the Planning Commission as a body of amateurs that was slowing down progress, a charge that angered some of its present and former members.

Developers and small business owners have complained that their projects are being delayed without cause--mainly because planning commissioners are not experts in the field and misunderstand what they are expected to do, city officials have said.

Several former Oxnard council members and planning commissioners slammed the proposal to do away with the commission when it came before the council last month, citing the potential for corruption and complaining that it would result in reduced public participation in city government.

The latest proposal attempts to conform to those concerns by forming a land-use commission made up of a hearing officer and two members of the public.

Additional citizens would join the committee on an ad hoc basis whenever a developer proposed a project deemed important to a certain community, according to a city report.

The land-use commission would be more efficient than the Planning Commission, speeding up the planning process by weeks, even months in some cases, according to the report.