Franklin County Commissioners have agreed to reduce the number of members on the County Planning and zoning board

Franklin County Commissioners have agreed to reduce the number of members on the County Planning and zoning board to insure that the board can reach a quorum for future meetings.

The current planning and zoning board has 9 members representing a variety of local industries, including seafood, forestry and real estate.

Not all of those seats are currently filled.

Even so it requires 5 members to hold a legal meeting and that has been hard to come by, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, the commission suspended the P and Z and the board of adjustment and passed their work to the county planner, just to insure that it got done.

That suspension will remain in effect until October the 6th.

By reducing the number of members on the planning and zoning board to 5, only three members would be needed to hold a meeting.

Under the proposed change, each county commissioner would name one member to the board, and there would be two alternates named by the full commission.

Commissioner Smokey Parrish said that while the change will make it easier to get a quorum, it does run the risk of removing the variety of opinions that the current board enjoys.

The reason there are so many members is to insure that planning decisions are viewed from a number of perspectives.

Under the proposal, the county runs the risk of loading the P and Z with representatives from one type of industry, like seafood or real estate, and that could have a big impact on future planning decisions.

Even so, the board agreed that they have to have a working planning board so they agreed to the change, at least for a few months to see if it works out.

The reduction in members does require an amendment to the current zoning ordinance, so the commission will have to hold a public hearing before the change takes effect.

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