Here’s an interesting thought experiment – make your planning commission a professional, paid advisory body.  Elected officials often create bodies or groups to advise them on some issues of importance to them, sometimes made up of citizens and sometimes of professionals in the subject area.  What about for planning and land use?

The inspiration for the topic today came from another blog I recently ran across where this very idea was seriously being discussed in a Washington State community.  The post was titled Why ‘Hack’ a Planning Commission?, on the Resurgence: A Journey blog.

The basic idea discussed in the blog post was that the city council of the Seattle-area community of Mercer Island was considering reconstituting its planning commission in a very different direction from how most PCs are.  The initial idea was to compose the PC of two non-resident professional practitioners (land use professionals), one resident professional practitioner, and two lay residents.  The professional practitioners would be paid $500 per meeting.  Why would the council consider doing this?  According to the Resurgence post, it essentially boiled down to a few things:

…dissatisfaction with certain planning commission decisions or recommendations during the comprehensive plan revision process, a lack of interest from residents in commission service, (and) disdain for the “boxy” appearance of the Town Center allegedly resulting from past commission actions.

It was also brought up that the city lacked adequate professional staff, and this proposal would help in that regard.

Ultimately, the Mercer Island city council approved the ‘hack’ of the PC, but somewhat differently than what was originally proposed.  The approved version will consist of all five members of the PC being professional practitioners, all of whom are residents of the community, and will be paid $500 per meeting.

The Resurgence writer, Chuck Wolfe, who describes himself as an urbanist and recovering attorney, at first thought this was a good idea, an experiment worth taking a serious look at.  Is it an idea worth exploring here in Utah?

Utah State code does not specify who can and cannot be on a planning commission.  It just says that the local governing body is to establish a PC by ordinance, setting out the numbers, modes of appointment, and terms.  It also says PC members may be paid per diem and travel expenses, but elsewhere in the state code it says communities can set compensation.

What about the idea of having PC members who do not live in the community?  Again, nothing in state code prohibits it, and we have some history of communities in Utah making such appointments, like the towns of Alta and Brian Head.

What about having the PC composed entirely of professionals involved in land use and development?  I have heard of some communities in our state where the appointing officials feel like they need to find such professionals for their PCs to get the best decisions and recommendations from them.

Let’s take a look at all these factors.  To the idea of having non-residents of the community on the PC, Chuck Wolfe ultimately winds up saying:

(Planning commissions) were largely local advisory bodies intended to guide municipalities’ development, addressing comprehensive plans and other ancillary functions.

The hallmark of these commissions was their grassroots composition—residents who volunteer time and expertise to help shape the future of their communities. Call it an early form of co-creation: a bridge between government and citizenry.

Perhaps most important was the commission’s role in fostering a sense of ownership and civic responsibility and ensuring due process by allowing local voices to be heard and considered in urban planning decisions after appropriate notice and comment

I think it would be tough to convince residents and local elected officials to accept recommendations and decisions about land use issues in their communities from a group of people that don’t live in the community.  So, if we stay with the idea that the PC should be all community residents, what about making them all professionals and maybe even paying them, as Mercer Island has decided to do?  Wouldn’t that be the way to get the best decisions?

Many of you are aware of a presentation that I’ve been doing for a number of years now, called Group Decisions.  It’s about how groups make decisions (duh!) and the various factors and variables that affect that process, especially in small groups like a PC or Council.  I used three excellent books as the basis for the material in the presentation, which relate findings from research on group dynamics and decision making.  One of the most interesting that I included in the presentation was that groups that make the best decisions are not those composed of all experts in the same field (they all think too much alike and may not see “non-traditional,” more innovative ideas), nor those composed of no experts at all (they lack in understanding facts and background of the topic area).  It was those that were composed of a mix of some experts and others who had diverse, non-related backgrounds that did best.  So mix in some soccer moms, medical aides, artists, and others with a few land use experts on your PC, and you get a group that has some knowledge and thinks in different ways to see other kinds of solutions.  And they really shouldn’t all be from outside the community.

The comments from blogger Chuck Wolfe at the end of his post I think are worth emphasizing:

To ensure effective urban planning, it is crucial to balance professional expertise and community engagement. In this case, I wonder if American planning tradition—community involvement, local insight, and a sense of ownership in shaping the future—was entirely left behind.

The new (PC) needs to find a way to emphasize local wisdom.  Retaining more resident representation on the “commission” would have preserved intimate knowledge of the community’s needs and values. This local wisdom is essential to reflect the community’s aspirations and priorities.

Just something to keep in mind as we look for members for all our various PCs around the state.