Date: Fri 15-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Ordinance-committee-Rodgers

Full Text:

Ordinance Panel Completes Review Of Its Procedures

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The Legislative Council's ordinance committee Wednesday completed the

re-writing of its rules and procedures for creating new ordinances.

The committee voted unanimously in favor of the new guidelines.

With its house finally in order, the board can now begin work on a handful of

proposed ordinances that have been hanging over its head for several months.

It can also begin work on the short list of already approved ordinances that

are considered by some to be flawed.

In February, Will Rodgers, ordinance committee chairman, called for a

short-term moratorium on all new ordinances until his board could come up with

a better process. He said the committee lacked a clear set of rules on how to

go about drafting ordinances.

Mr Rodgers only recently took over the committee, and the other members -- Ed

Lucas, Tim Holian and Peggy Baiad -- are all new. The ordinance committee is

made up of Legislative Council members.

In short, the new set of internal rules, as written by Mr Rogers, is expected

to better guide the committee through a set of steps as it sets out to write

new ordinances. The key is to make sure the ordinance committee has a

formalized set of procedures to ensure that it brings the experts into the

process at an early juncture.

No one wants to go through the same problem that the Legislative Council had

with the scenic road ordinance. The council has been harshly criticized in

recent weeks for its decision not to approve scenic road status to New Lebbon

and Washbrook roads.

The applicants felt they had met the criteria and were angered at being

rejected. The council members were blamed, but an incomplete ordinance may

have been the root of the problem. The scenic road ordinance was also knocked

by Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Stephen Koch, who was surprised his

board was never consulted during the ordinance drafting.

The ordinance committee is also making a push to complete an underground oil

tank ordinance, which has been in the works for several years.

Fire Marshal George Lockwood claims a local law should be passed mandating

that all tanks 20-years-old or older be pulled out of the ground. Last year,

an ordinance was almost passed simply prohibiting any more tanks from being

buried. This frustrated Mr Lockwood, who said a requirement to dig up certain

tanks was the most important part of the ordinance. He felt he was not

properly consulted during the drafting of the ordinance. This made it clear to

Mr Rodgers that a new set of rules needed to be created.

This week, each committee member was assigned his or her own proposed

ordinance to study. Mr Rodgers will head a proposed ordinance on anti-litter,

Ed Lucas will look at underground oil tanks, Peggy Baiad will check out noise

ordinances, and Tim Holian will be in charge of a proposed adult establishment

ordinance.