The most obvious is the lack of public input that was sought in writing the ordinance in the first place. Our present land use policies evolved over 15 years of public workshops held in church halls and school cafeterias that recorded the hopes and desires of the residents of our community. The ordinance was finally adopted in 2009, at the height of our nation’s financial collapse and has not even been given a mite’s chance for demonstrating economic growth. What took 15 years to mature should not be so suddenly overturned.

It is also proposed to exclude our Planning Commission, that consists of trained and certified citizen commissioners, from the special use permit public hearing process. That means that the most intense uses will only be scrutinized by the public before the Board of Supervisors, who already have much more on their plate than land use issues. Removing from the process the Planning Commission upsets the balance of powers for which our nation’s constitution provides.

Come out to Eastville Fire Dept. Bingo Hall on Thursday Nov. 6 at 7pm to learn more about this and to have your questions answered.