Some County Commission members on Wednesday said they are looking at pulling out of the Regional Planning Agency and setting up a county planning group.
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley said, "I am asked a lot why the county does not have its own planning commission separate from the city. It upsets a lot of people that there are people voting on issues and they have no clue where these roads are out in the county."
He added, "A lot of roads in the rural area are not accommodated to handle this amount of traffic."
Commissioner Shipley said of the current zoning situation, "I think a lot of times they have no clue that where they are going to put 400 homes it's on a road that's a pig trail."
He said there also are concerns about a number of decentralized septic systems that are going in for large rural developments. He said, "It's scary that they are so far away from the WWTA's lines."
Chairman Jeff Eversole said in October 2022 he was ready to introduce a resolution that would have set up a separate county planning office. He said the county at the time was spending $860,000 on the planning agency. He said that is now over $900,000. He said the estimate for a county only planning panel was around $500,000.
He said he was ready to go when he and County Mayor Weston Wamp were called into a Friday afternoon board meeting, and he was asked to hold off on the resolution.
Chairman Eversole said he was asked to give the new RPA leader, Dan Reuter, a year. He said, "Certain things were suppose to be done, and we could revisit this if we didn't get traction."
He said he was told that the new Plan Hamilton countywide zoning study would not require county funds.
Chairman Eversole said of the current zoning situation and the new plan, "When the county starts looking like the city, we've got problems."
He said the issue of zoning out in the county "keeps coming back up over and over."
The chairman said he is not against development, "but it's a matter of building homes in a way that represents that community."
Commissioner Chip Baker said of the idea of the separate planning panel, "I think it does have merit. The needs of the city and county are very different. I think it would give a better result."
Nathan Janeway, county development director, agreed "we do need some changes. What we are doing is not working."
However, he cautioned that "city residents pay county taxes too."
He said, "Some who live in the city, including myself, understand the concerns of the rural area."
Of the change he said, "I know it's something we can do. It's a possibility." But he said there are few county zoning changes, and staff members might wind up with little to do.
He said steps are underway for some changes to Plan Hamilton that would be in the interest of rural residents.
Bryan Shults of the RPA said of the 15 members of the Planning Commission that seven are named by the city mayor, seven by the county mayor, and the mayors choose the chairman.