Amador County – The Jackson City Council on Monday discussed its city Design Review Committee, after its 5-0 approval.

City Manager Mike Daly said having meetings twice a month would probably be frequent enough to not delay any project in the city, and if there were no projects, they could cancel meetings.

City Planner Susan Peters said the Committee would not review all issues. She said any major or controversial issues could be passed to the Planning Commission. It would also only review projects in historic downtown, while city staff would review projects outside those areas.

Planning Commission Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Devlin thanked the Council for recently reappointing her, especially “on the heels of the big meeting,” last week’s approval of the renovation designs of the Rosebud’s Café. Devlin liked the approach the Council approved in selecting Committee members, by preference seeking Jackson residents first, and then Amador County residents second.

In public comment, Judy Jebian wondered about problems that are technical, such as engineering in particular. Vice Mayor Keith Sweet said the Rosebud’s issue was about materials, and “we had people involved who were not engineers.”

Sweet said people may have an issue with keeping the Design Review Committee from “monitoring their own work,” but there would be no conflict of interest, unless they receive money from a project. If they did, then they must step down.

Jebian said she “feels that the Planning Commission does a pretty good job, and since the guidelines are voluntary and not mandatory,” they already may be flexible enough, and maybe the city would not need the extra layer of government.

Sweet said the Committee adds another layer, but as professionals in construction and building business, it is assumed that they would have a better understanding of that industry, and appeals can be made to the Planning Commission, and City Council.

Councilman Wayne Garibaldi said “the purpose of the Design Review Committee is to review projects in keeping with design guidelines we adopted.” He said it is not intended to give leeway, and the Committee is not expected to “interpret the guidelines.” Garibaldi said he also would not want to have, nor was it intended to have, appeals of design decisions by non-applicants.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.