Amador County - The Amador County Technical Advisory Committee fielded complaints Wednesday pertaining to a permit for a Sunday School at the Mt. Zion Assembly of God. Pastor Blayne Corzine voiced his frustration over gaps in communication and the number of steps required to meet standards. According to Larry Petersen of the Planning Department, a new use permit is required in order to allow the existing trailer to be used as a Sunday School and classroom. In addition, a Sunday School is not considered a classroom and “Sunday School” must be added to the application. Corzine said that when the church acquired the trailer it was already setup as a business trailer for a construction site. He already had filed for a permit and did not understand why he needed to file a permit yet again. But Petersen said the current permit only allowed for storage and did not include some specifications needed to determine whether it was suitable as a meeting area. “Now I have to give an additional 300 to 500 dollars to use this trailer for these kids,” said Corzine, referring to filing fees. But the committee explained that when you change from a storage unit to a building with people, documentation is needed on file to ensure it meets all code requirements. “No one is saying it doesn’t meet those already, it’s just the process,” said Planning Director Susan Grijalva. Corzine said “The frustration comes when I talk to someone else in the building department and they told me completely different standards. I have to go back and answer to the Church board about this. I’m coming to the people that are supposed to help me and it seems like there hasn’t been one straight answer that I get.” Grijalva sympathized, saying “it looks like you got left holding the hot potato here.” The Planning Commission said these types of miscommunications were one of the main reasons why the Advisory Committee had been created. “Sometimes the public uses words that mean something different to us,” said Grijalva. Deputy CAO Kristen Bengyel said the land use and planning departments will also be offering a weekly drop in period to answer questions from the public in the near future. “We’ll take info, apply it to appropriate documents and streamline this process,” she said. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.