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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 27, 2006 Planners challenged for hosting infill meeting By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Discussing infill is no longer just a highly charged political issue in Ashland. It is now, in the opinion of two Ashland planning and design professionals, an impeachable offense if you happen to be a member of the Ashland Planning Commission. Two weeks ago, the Tidings reported that Michael Dawkins and John Stromberg, both members of the planning commission, caused a stir by deciding to host a public forum about infill, outside of their duties as planning commissions. Ashland resident George Kramer, above, wants Planning Commissioner John Stromberg, below, to step down because of Stromberg’s plans to hold a community meeting on infill without the blessing of the planning commission or city. Photos by Orville Hector Ashland Daily Tidings Since then, two members of Ashland’s building industry familiar with planning issues and politics — George Kramer and Mark Knox — have called for their resignation if they proceed with the forum. “I think any commissioner who sponsors an event like this ... should resign,” Kramer told the Ashland City Council at its Jan. 17 meeting. “If they won’t resign I think [the mayor and council] should remove them if you have the authority and take them out to the woodshed if you do not.” After the meeting, Kramer stressed he does not think Dawkins and Stromberg are wrong to identify infill and growth as issues deserving to be dealt with by the city. But, he added, because they are sitting members of the planning commission, they are wrong to forge ahead without the support of the commission they serve on. “I can’t think of anybody on any commission ever who has disregarded the majority opinion of the body on which they serve,” Kramer said after the meeting. “They are thumbing their nose at the process the public entrusted them to enforce.” In a letter sent to various city officials, Knox echoed Kramer’s sentiment. ”I’m troubled with the news that two of our newest Planning Commission members are going to have their own forum even though the rest of the planning commission and some members of the city council have asked them not to,” he said, in an e-mail sent to all five city councilors, the mayor, the interim planning director, the city administrator and the assistant city attorney. In the correspondence, which he asked not be publicized — though it is a public document because he sent it to certain staff member’s city e-mail addresses — Knox asked the council to “formally request the two commissioners not hold the forum, but if they do, remove them from their planning commission seats.” Municipal leaders have responded with mixed reactions. Mayor John Morrison said he will not ask for Dawkins and Stromberg’s resignation over the matter but it is his wish that they not go forward with their forum. “The sessions would be better if they were done within the context of the planning commission,” he said. “That being said, commissioners are volunteers and as long as they make it clear that they are doing it on their own it does not rise to the level of asking for their resignation.” Others disagreed with the merits of the forum. City Administrator Gino Grimaldi and City Councilor Kate Jackson have asked Dawkins and Stromberg not to hold the forum, while Councilors Cate Hartzell and Jack Hardesty have been supportive of their efforts. Assistant City Attorney Mike Reeder told Dawkins and Stromberg there is nothing unlawful about planning commissioners holding or attending a meeting outside of their appointed functions. Jackson said calling for their resignations would “only exacerbate the problem. We’re getting way too much into us versus them,” she said, noting that the council has an infill discussion planned for April and she believes the community would be best served if the two commissioners acquiesced to the council and allowed them to frame the topic. Hardesty, on the other hand, sees no problem with the infill forum and, therefore, no reason to call for anyone’s resignation. “I think it’s perfectly legitimate,” he said. “The question is why are so many people up in arms over it. [Dawkins and Stromberg] are challenging the power structure. If they wait for the council to get around to it, it’ll be the ice age already.” Hartzell said, “I support it and I hope people come to it. I tend to think it’s constructive any time citizens come together. It sounds like democracy to me.” She said a similar situation occurred when a group of citizens, including herself before she was a counclior, banded together to create the hillside development standards, the local ordinance that mitigates environmental concerns on steep hills prime for new development. On that issue, she said, there was “resistance from the real estate industry” because the hillsides in Ashland are an area of high value. Like infill, hillside development was an issue that was on the council’s agenda “but it kept getting put to the bottom of the list,” she said. “They are inviting people to come and talk about infill,” she said. “I think that’s safe. Not all ideas have to come from then top. In a democracy, it’s useful for citizens to take responsibility for creating the society they want to create.” Dawkins and Stromberg both said they will not bow to political pressure and plan to hold the infill session in spite of Kramer and Knox’s statements. They will host two sessions on infill in the library on Tuesday and Feb. 13. They said they hope Knox and Kramer will put aside their reservations and participate in the forums. “It seems people who have been criticizing us don’t believe ordinary citizens can understand infill,” Stromberg said. “We’re trying to get a conversation going. In [formal municipal] meetings, you get presentations, positions and speeches but you don’t get people listening thoughtfully and developing ideas on an issue. We think that’s a good thing but we’re not sure that the people who have been critical think that is a good thing.” Dawkins described the issue as “hogwash.” He said, “I have a sneaky suspicion they are trying to bait us into saying or doing something wrong.” He said “not opposed to all growth” as he has been accused of as of late and added, “I don’t disagree with infill. I just want to have a dialogue about it.” Both Kramer and Knox have said that infill is the only option if the community wants to avoid urban sprawl. But Dawkins and Stromberg said this mindset is exactly why the community should be having a dialogue about infill. “The version of infill we’ve been getting from the outspoken people is infill light,” Stromberg said. Dawkins said infill in Ashland has been lacking the mix of housing types. 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