The first in a series of planning and development-related workshops was offered by the Center for Economic Development at Chico State on Friday, October 24. A Planning Commissioners Workshop, led by Political Science Professor Irv Schiffman, was designed to help planning commissioners better understand their roles and responsibilities and how to make their commissions more effective.
The workshops are the brainchild of Professor Schiffman who has long been active in planning activities in the Northstate region. According to Schiffman, in recent years, the planning process in California has become increasingly complex. The range of issues dealt with by planners has expanded from traditional land use and design concerns to issues of environmental protection, economic development, historic preservation, and the protection of farmland, open space, and other sensitive lands. Meanwhile, new rules continue to emerge from the courts and the state legislature.
As a result, says Schiffman, it has become increasingly difficult for planning commissioners and other participants in the process to keep up with the many changes necessary to plan intelligently for and manage community growth. New participants are frequently in need of basic training or education to guide them through the varied elements of the planning process and they join veteran participants in the need to be kept up-to-date with the many changes.
Schiffman took his concerns to Dan Ripke, director of the Center for Economic Development, and worked with the center and the center's intern, Warren Jensen, to initiate a series of planning workshops for communities north of Sacramento.
Chico State faculty members will serve as leaders of the various workshops, frequently working together with local and regional experts. Along with providing training for new planning commissioners, future workshops will deal with such subjects as environmental impact assessment, the General Plan, planning and zoning law, growth management techniques, and environmental issues in the development process
The thirty-five attendees at Friday's workshop heard Schiffman discuss the history of city and county planning in California and the constitutional and statutory underpinnings of the planning function. He reminded the commissioners of the differences between administrative and legislative decision-making and the need for them to base their rulings on legal standards rather than on personal predilections. Schiffman reviewed the essential elements of the planning process and the increasing number of implementation tools available to carry it out. The all-day workshop ended in late afternoon with Schiffman leading a discussion among the participants on how they see their roles as planning commissioners and what they could do to make their commissions more effective.
According to Center Director Ripke, the planning commission workshop was "a great success and feedback from participants was very positive." While originally it was planned to hold all of the workshops on the Chico State campus, that plan is being reconsidered. "Right now," says Ripke, "we have requests from Crescent City, Yreka, and Glenn County to hold workshops in their areas." KM