Still short of commissioners
Phyllis Pike did receive approval from the Planning Commission to place a gazebo in front of her business, Trick My Leathers, at 3 Judah St. She asked to install the gazebo so customers will have a place to wait while she sews vests and jackets. She appeared before the commission on Feb. 26, but her application lacked some specific details. At that time, the commissioners saw they would not have a quorum for the scheduled March 12 meeting, so they scheduled a special meeting for Monday night so Pike would not have to wait a month for a decision.
Pike had submitted all the additional material, but commissioner Tom Buford said Pike should have submitted a new application since the commission rejected her initial application. Others at the table said the commission deferred the application, and the additional information was noted on the application.
Chair Ann Sallee suggested the commission could set a policy for the future, to ask for a new application when needed. In other cases, applicants could sign and date additions to the original application.
Buford also objected to a proposed banner mounted on a curved pole. He said the banner does not meet the sign code, which calls for a complete enclosure around a sign. City Historic Preservation Officer Glenna Booth said city codes have not kept up with those banners, which have appeared all over town.
Commissioner Abbey Abbey said the application did not include lighting. Others at the table remembered Pike saying that floodlights on the building would light the gazebo and the parking lot. Commissioner James Mitchell said the building inspector would decide if the site had adequate lighting.
Woodie Acord did not attend the meeting, and Sallee said he is resigning from the commission after four or five years. “We appreciate him and we’re going to miss him,” she said.
Planning has struggled to keep all seven seats filled in recent years. At the Feb. 26 meeting, Mitchell attended his first meeting, bringing the number of commissioners to six. At the end of that meeting, however, Abbey announced her imminent resignation.