From the Elbert County News:  The latest battle over the future of the Elbert County Planning Commission drew nearly two dozen residents to a typically empty second-floor meeting room at the Elbert County Courthouse on Jan. 5 for the weekly Monday-morning study session of the Board of County Commissioners, but the discussion over the planning commission’s future may expand to include more than just zoning and bylaws.

On July 31 last year, Elbert County submitted its audit financial statements to the state by the statutory deadline for the first time in years. While the auditors praised the county for significant improvements to its accounting practices and financial situation, they also identified weaknesses in the county’s departmental business practices, specifically citing a lack of standardization.

In response to the auditor’s comments, the BOCC has made streamlining and formalizing the county’s business practices a priority. None of these efforts has drawn more attention than proposed changes to zoning laws and the creation of bylaws for the Elbert County Planning Commission.

Kurt Schlegel, commissioner for District 2, said that since the planning commission makes recommendations, the changes are a necessary prelude to the creation of a countywide master plan to manage continued growth in concert with the county’s mission statement.

The proposed changes to zoning laws center on two issues: the composition of the planning commission and the implementation of time limits for processing zoning requests. No one has questioned the BOCC’s legislative authority to change the zoning regulations, but questions have arisen over the BOCC’s legal authority or need to approve the final draft of the planning commission’s bylaws.

The bylaws are required by state statute, but the language in the law makes no specific reference to the BOCC, and a lack of case law leaves the issue to be interpreted differently by each side. Additionally, the month-long conflict over bylaws has spawned a second, more far-reaching issue of whether the BOCC is in compliance with Colorado’s sunshine laws requiring notice of any kind of gathering convened to discuss public business.

Visit the Elbert County News for more.