City Calls on Its Citizens to Get Involved
The City of Peachtree Corners is looking for a few good men - and women - willing to serve on two citizen committees.
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The City Council on Tuesday passed the new Zoning and Sign ordinances and now is looking for volunteers to serve on a Planning Commission and a Zoning Board of Appeals.
It's an exciting opportunity for our citizens to get involved," said Mayor Mike Mason.
The city is accepting applications for the two citizen-based groups which will be made by appointment. Each of the groups will be made up of five members.
"We hope to get a wide sampling of Peachtree Corners citizens," said Mason. "The best candidates will not have an agenda and be open-minded."
The five-member Planning Commission will be appointed by the City Council. The members will be responsible for reviewing re-zoning requests, special use permit requests and amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and make recommendations to the City Council. The commission may also undertake special studies and reviews requested by the City Council.
The five members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, appointed by the City Council, will be responsible for reviewing and issuing rulings related to variance requests and appeals of administrative decisions. The decisions made by the Appeals Board are not subject to the review of the City Council and can only be appealed to Gwinnett County Superior Court.
The application process: To apply for one of these volunteer positions, please submit an application which can be found on the city's website. Then it may be submitted via email (along with a resume if desired) to: info@cityofpeachtreecornersga.com
A copy of the application is also included with this story, click on the PDF. There is an option to print the form as well.
Qualifications: Applicants must be residents of the City of Peachtree Corners.
Time commitment: Appointments are for a two-year term (or in the case of a mid-term vacancy, for the remainder of that term). At the end if the term, the council may, at its discretion, reappoint the member for another term.
The Planning commission will meet monthly at City Hall, 147 Technology Parkway (date and time to be determined). Additional meetings may be required for subcommittees.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will also meet monthly at City Hall with the date and time to be determined.
A screening committee, headed by Dist. 2 Gwinnett Commissioner Lynette Howard, has been formed to help with the process. "We want to make sure the best candidates are selected," said Mason. A screening committee will make the process more fair noted Mason who said by taking it out of the hands of the City Council it takes the politics out of the process.
Howard had previously served on Gwinnett County's Planning Commission.
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Allan Peel
3:51 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Wait a second ... the article above states that "the decisions made by the (words missing here) are not subject to the review by the City Council and can only be appealed to Gwinnett County Superior Court." This statement, as written, is incomplete, but I assume it was intended to say something to the effect that the decisions by the five members of volunteer / appointed Zoning Board of Appeals are not subject to review by the City Council. Considering that Zoning is one of the three limited services that the new city is supposed to provide, please tell me that the City Council is NOT, in effect, absolving itself of one of the key responsibilities that they were elected by the residents to perform. Passing off zoning responsibilities to a volunteer organization appointed by the Council members, one that is not held accountable through the election process is simply unacceptable. Please tell me it ain't so!!!
Judy Putnam
5:35 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Allan: Thanks for catching the omission in the sentence, the missing words are "Appeals Board" which I've now added. For clarification on the ZBA's duties you need to speak with someone at City Hall. The email addresses of the mayor and city council are listed on the city's website, www.cityofpeachtreecornersga.com