Planning Commission Minutes 2020 07 16

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes July 16, 2020 Page 10 of 12 Ritchie says that she recalls there being a cutoff for emails but staff can confirm that at the next meeting. Rice tells staff that planning commission should digest this topic for another month and bring it up again at the next meeting. He shares staff’s ideas that if they want to recommend a policy that has a cutoff time, it should go to city council and be put into place for all boards and commissions. Ritchie asks the commissioners if they would like this to be a formal agenda item at the next meeting so that it is publicly noticed. Rice says that that would be a good idea because someone from the public could have an opinion on the agenda item and then they could speak on it. Moline asks if staff will be able to make a recommendation on this subject as well. Ritchie says that they could list pros and cons from staff’s perspective and check neighboring cities to see what their policy is. Rice suggests that staff notice it as a discussion on considering making a recommendation on a cutoff time for receiving record materials for the hearings. Rice also mentions that there was also a discussion from the last meeting about letting the commission express its views in regards to retail marijuana and the distancing required. Hoefner says that is correct. He had mentioned earlier that at the last meeting and this meeting there has been an interest in discussing the policy choices in regards to marijuana. There are a number of us who have concerns about it and whether that should warrant a formal agenda item at the next meeting. He is concerned though that even if they make an official agenda item for this topic, there might not be much that comes from it. Williams agrees that it would be a good discussion. If we look at it, we have reached six of these businesses in Louisville and zoning changes overtime. It is good to revisit it because you never know what could happen in the future. Ritchie mentions that the code allows planning commission to make recommendations to amendments to both text and the zoning map itself. Under city code, they could make a recommendation to city council to amend this section of the code. Brauneis says that he is surprised by this discussion. He appreciates that it is an issue that is a concern to some commissioners, but says that he cannot remember an issue in the past that planning commission thought it was important enough to make recommendations on amending code that has already been passed by city council. He thinks this is an activist approach but would stop and think of this change of direction because they are strictly an advisory board to city council.