Five will serve on planning board

The Alleghany Board of Commissioners agreed last Thursday night to pare down the Planning Board from nine members to five. The commissioners' meeting was postponed from its usual Monday night time due to inclement weather.

The paring of the board was made at the recommendation of County Planner Kathy Murphy and the planning board itself, both of whom said the move will help that board more easily reach a quorum—the minimum number of members who need to be present for business to be discussed. The board now will be able to conduct business with three or more of its members present, matching the protocol of the county commission. In order to conduct zoning hearings, such as conditional use permits, state statutes require that at least four of the five members be present. With the nine-member board, five members had to be present to constitute a quorum and seven had to be present to discuss zoning issues, sometimes leading to issues being put on hold due to not enough members showing up.

When the board was made up of nine members, seven of them represented each of the county's seven townships, or voting districts, and two were at-large. Under the new plan, the members will represent the five fire districts. The new makeup will drop the at-large members. As in the past, if no applications from a district are received, the commissioners reserve the right to appoint a person from another district to fill that slot. David Isner and Bruce Cook agreed to become alternate members of the board, with the remaining five members to serve staggered terms. Martha Holder resigned from the board in February, while Jerry Brooks resigned several months ago, representing the additional two seats that were eliminated.

The remaining five board members are Michelle Bedsaul, Bill Caudill, Chairman Jason Williams, Jeffery Wyatt and Vice Chair Betty Stewart.

The board also agreed to have future outgoing members become alternates, cycling in and out of that position as terms end. Alternates would be re-appointed by the commissioners if the other board members were unable to fulfill their duties. With the current make-up of the board, Commissioner Steve Roten pointed out that the board would have two Glade Creek representatives, two Laurel Springs representatives and no Sparta representation.

Stewart and Bedsaul are from Glade Creek, Wyatt is from Cherry Lane and Caudill and Williams are from Laurel Springs As for the alternates, Isner is from Sparta and Cook is from Laurel Springs. Caudill had been an at-large member, as had Isner. The board would look to fill vacant positions with people from the appropriate fire district as they become available.

The next seat to expire will be the one held by Stewart, with her expected to fill the alternate position of Isner. Both terms were scheduled to end in 2010.

In a brief interview on Tuesday, Murphy said the changes will help expedite the process for those who do business with the planning board.

 

Get the whole story - read this week's edition of The Alleghany News!