Heads butt at county planning commission
Marion County Zoning Administrator Bobbi Strait reported Monday to Marion County Commission that at a recent Marion County Planning Commission meeting, members of the planning board had "overstepped their boundaries."
The incidents occurred, said Strait, during the public hearing portion of the July 27 meeting when the board asked a building code question and addressed conditional use permit issues regarding county roadways.
"The planning commission does not have any authority," said Strait, other than what pertains to zoning and applications at hand.
Strait said the planning commission was going to deny an application for a 7.48-acre lot split but she informed board members that the owner had met zoning regulations and she would issue a permit regardless of their action.
In other department business:
— Fourteen building permits have been issued, Strait said, since she has been with the county. Of those, 12 were new constructions and two were agriculture buildings.
— The commission approved clarification of language in the county's zoning regulations and lot split applications to reflect a minimum of five acres of land was permissible for development.
— Strait reported she had inspected a house near Florence that had received tornado damage and will provide the free service to county residents since she is a state certified building inspector and certified damage assessor.
— Investigations are being conducted regarding two reports of sewer water being dumped in a creek and an uninhabitable rental property.
