March 19, 2024
City of Poway Clerk's Office
13325 Civic Center Drive
Poway CA 92064
RE: City Council Meeting: Agenda Item #5
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Amendments to Chapters 2.21, 13.12, 16.10, 17.02, 17.40, 17.46, 17.47, 17 .48 and 17 .50 of the Poway Municipal Code and the Master Fee Schedule Regarding Rehearing Procedures and Public Noticing To Whom It May Concern:
We have concerns about changing Poway's Municipal Code for rehearings and public notices regarding potential developments. Below are our concerns and questions.
More transparency is needed in Poway, not less! Rehearings should remain in effect so residents and business owners continue to have their voices heard. Here is an example of a rehearing: In 2000, a business owner in the Poway Business Park requested a rehearing for a city council decision about his business signage. After the rehearing, the city council listened and made changes and modifications to their original decision.
The rehearing was in Poway, not in Superior Court. This saved the business owner expenses and time missed from work. Other cities offer rehearings for their residents, such as The City of San Diego and Carlsbad.
1. How many rehearings are requested in Poway in one year?
2. Are there so many rehearings requested that it really affects Poway's budget?
3. Does the city lose that much money that they must take this right away from residents and business owners?
The second item of concern is the 500 feet notification change. Notification to residents about upcoming developments is very important. The idea of having landowners and developers incur the cost is appropriate. However, developers are working towards changing our "City in the Country" to just another City.
1. How are you going to ensure developers follow the property protocol?
2. Why do you think handing over this important task to developers is a really good idea for residents?
We believe granting these Ordinance Code changes will negatively impact residents' ability to be heard. We ask that you deny these changes.
Sincerely,
Lori Grennan
Rick Coburn
Barbara Diederichs
Shari Dunbar