Clearly there is a need for the effective operations of CACs in a County of 700 sq. mi. A seven member Planning Commission can not provide enough organized inspection of planning issues in a fast-growing County. Those additional voices should not be controlled by County staff which already has a large influence upon the voices heard by the BoS. ***It seems like the County employees have stopped working for the taxpayers and are running their own agenda which I find unacceptable.*** The BoS should evaluate again which is the role of a CAC and make that clear to each member of the BoS, the staff, the Planning Commission, the CACs and the public and start this valuable processes again. The Planning Commission's inquiries should also be restricted to land use zoning issues and not financial matters as it was recently when discussing Phase II of Southwood. It should only discuss how the land is used, not who is using it. The BoS decides that when it makes appropriations to non-profits. Yes, unelected people should be heard but not have final say.
The VoRCAC resigned en masse NOT because of cancelled or re-structured meetings, as you imply, but because we were abruptly blindsided by a "cease and desist" letter from Supervisor Donna Price stating that our review of our Village of Rivanna Master Plan to clarify the existing language and eliminate ambiguities "was out of order." She sent, via our chairman, Dennis Odinov, what amounted to a one-way communication that was subtly accusatory, and we were chagrined that she apparently didn't understand or care to understand our purpose. Our intent was (and is) to review the plan with an eye to eliminating ambiguous and confusing language and to create suggestions for a document that clearly states what the Village of Rivanna is and what it can become. At no time did we ever intend to supplant the role of Staff in updating a new plan at the appropriate time. We did not perceive this as a process out of sequence with the Comp Plan revision, as Supervisor Price stated in her letter. We looked at this as a preparatory and educational process for our members, the Village of Rivanna community, and County Staff.
Supervisor Price's letter also questioned our Community Education Program which we had, in fact, discussed at a number of our recent meetings. This is a parallel program which is designed to educate the residents on basic understanding of:
What is the Village of Rivanna, and how is it different than Rivanna Village?
What is a Comprehensive Plan and what does it do?
What is a Master Plan and what does it do?
What is the Department of Community Development?
What is a ZMA, and what is the approval process regarding a submitted ZMA?
What does the Planning Commission do?
..and other relevant subjects
We feel that educating our VoR residents is important preparation for their knowledgable participation in community affairs.
I implied nothing. The sentence is "The previous appointees resigned en masse in April after their April 11 meeting was canceled by the county for a lack of pressing issues."
The word "after" is in the chronological sense, as in, you resigned on April 19 after the April 11 meeting had been canceled.
As I reported yesterday, there is a precedent for Supervisors setting rules on what CAC's do. The key precedent is December 2014 when Places29 was disbanded for a time and reoriented.
[on p 8.13] The Master Plans are updated approximately every five years. Community Advisory Committees appointed by the Board of Supervisors typically guide the update process.
[on p S-29] Strategy 1b: Continue to use Community Advisory Committees to … act as a clearinghouse for information that is important to the Development Area.
Thus, the VoRCAC was doing precisely what the Comprehensive Plan says we should have been doing when we were up-ended by Supervisor Price's letter. Until the Comp Plan is revised and the new version is adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the current Plan prevails. So, Sean, regardless of what happened to Places 29 in 2014, is the Comprehensive Plan a County-wide guide to be followed, or may individual supervisors squelch CAC activities at will regardless of what the Plan says?
Clearly there is a need for the effective operations of CACs in a County of 700 sq. mi. A seven member Planning Commission can not provide enough organized inspection of planning issues in a fast-growing County. Those additional voices should not be controlled by County staff which already has a large influence upon the voices heard by the BoS. ***It seems like the County employees have stopped working for the taxpayers and are running their own agenda which I find unacceptable.*** The BoS should evaluate again which is the role of a CAC and make that clear to each member of the BoS, the staff, the Planning Commission, the CACs and the public and start this valuable processes again. The Planning Commission's inquiries should also be restricted to land use zoning issues and not financial matters as it was recently when discussing Phase II of Southwood. It should only discuss how the land is used, not who is using it. The BoS decides that when it makes appropriations to non-profits. Yes, unelected people should be heard but not have final say.
The VoRCAC resigned en masse NOT because of cancelled or re-structured meetings, as you imply, but because we were abruptly blindsided by a "cease and desist" letter from Supervisor Donna Price stating that our review of our Village of Rivanna Master Plan to clarify the existing language and eliminate ambiguities "was out of order." She sent, via our chairman, Dennis Odinov, what amounted to a one-way communication that was subtly accusatory, and we were chagrined that she apparently didn't understand or care to understand our purpose. Our intent was (and is) to review the plan with an eye to eliminating ambiguous and confusing language and to create suggestions for a document that clearly states what the Village of Rivanna is and what it can become. At no time did we ever intend to supplant the role of Staff in updating a new plan at the appropriate time. We did not perceive this as a process out of sequence with the Comp Plan revision, as Supervisor Price stated in her letter. We looked at this as a preparatory and educational process for our members, the Village of Rivanna community, and County Staff.
Supervisor Price's letter also questioned our Community Education Program which we had, in fact, discussed at a number of our recent meetings. This is a parallel program which is designed to educate the residents on basic understanding of:
What is the Village of Rivanna, and how is it different than Rivanna Village?
What is a Comprehensive Plan and what does it do?
What is a Master Plan and what does it do?
What is the Department of Community Development?
What is a ZMA, and what is the approval process regarding a submitted ZMA?
What does the Planning Commission do?
..and other relevant subjects
We feel that educating our VoR residents is important preparation for their knowledgable participation in community affairs.
I implied nothing. The sentence is "The previous appointees resigned en masse in April after their April 11 meeting was canceled by the county for a lack of pressing issues."
The word "after" is in the chronological sense, as in, you resigned on April 19 after the April 11 meeting had been canceled.
As I reported yesterday, there is a precedent for Supervisors setting rules on what CAC's do. The key precedent is December 2014 when Places29 was disbanded for a time and reoriented.
The Comprehensive Plan says:
[on p 8.13] The Master Plans are updated approximately every five years. Community Advisory Committees appointed by the Board of Supervisors typically guide the update process.
[on p S-29] Strategy 1b: Continue to use Community Advisory Committees to … act as a clearinghouse for information that is important to the Development Area.
Thus, the VoRCAC was doing precisely what the Comprehensive Plan says we should have been doing when we were up-ended by Supervisor Price's letter. Until the Comp Plan is revised and the new version is adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the current Plan prevails. So, Sean, regardless of what happened to Places 29 in 2014, is the Comprehensive Plan a County-wide guide to be followed, or may individual supervisors squelch CAC activities at will regardless of what the Plan says?