Spokane County Planning Commission needs new members.
The seven member Spokane County Planning Commission that advises the county’s commissioners on a variety of land use regulations, policies and plans has three vacancies to fill. According to the county, seats on the Planning Commission assigned to
District 2 and District 3 will come open at the end of this year due to term expiration. A third seat, assigned on an at-large basis, will also come open in January. Members are appointed by the Board of County Commissioners.
The current makeup of the Planning Commission is:
District 1
Peter Ice
Joyce McNamee
District 2
Doug Kelley (chairman)
Mike Schmitz (vice chairman)
District 3
Randall Gillingham
Dave Jones
At-Large
Bill Moore
It is the seats currently occupied by Schmitz, Gillingham and Moore that expire at the end of this year and are open to interested applicants. Board members are volunteers and are limited to serving two four year terms.
“I think people who care about land use, traffic, habitat, water and environmental protection should seriously consider applying for the planning commission,” says Kitty Klitzke, the Eastern Washington field organizer for Futurewise, the statewide land use organization that works to uphold and enforce the state’s Growth Management Act. “The Planning Commission looks at all the facts pertaining to land use decisions and hears from everyone concerned. They are the ones who put together the facts that the County Commissioners will see and they make the recommendations on which action to take. The Commissioners don’t always choose to take the course the planning commission recommends, but the planning commission is the most influential voice and also the most ‘in the know’ about how our built environment is taking shape. It is very important to have smart people who care about our environment, our quality of life, and our natural resources on the Planning Commission.”
Those interested in applying for one of the open seats should fill out an application and return it to Ginna Vasquez, the Assistant to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners at gvasquez@spokanecounty.org. Ms. Vasquez can be reached by phone at (509) 477-2265. The County asks that specific questions about the roles and responsibilities of the board be addressed to planning director John Pederson at (509) 477-7212.
According to Ms. Vasquez, those applying for district designated seats must reside in the same district, but the at-large seat is open to any Spokane County resident.
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