Hearings should be made easier

Editor,

I thank the City-County Planning Board for their endurance and their decision to recommend denial of the zone change requested by Wal-Mart at last Tuesday's six-hour meeting. I certainly hope, however, that the City of Polson will address the Wal-Mart applications in a more planned manner before the process reaches the City Council for the final decision. Decisions of this magnitude should not be made close to midnight when people are tired.

If the Planning Office were to break the process down logically into its elements, then the City Council would consider first the application for a zone change, and next, annexation of the property into the city, without either of which the subdivision and special use permits are not applicable or relevant, because such developments are not allowed in County Rural Residential Zones.

Then the public would only have to sit through the reading of one or two staff reports at a time; the comments of the public could be directed toward one clear issue, and the discussion of the council would be less confused with hypothetical circumstances.

It seems to be a legitimate and fair request that the city see the entire scope of the proposal before granting a zone change, but that shouldn't preclude the process being broken down into its elements for the decisions to be made carefully and sensibly.

Citizens do have the right to be heard when major changes to their home territory are being considered. I hope the planning office and council will allow public comment next time from those people who make an effort to show up at a public meeting, even if they have to rush from work and can't make it until after the meeting begins, even if they didn't see or hear that they have to sign up on stage. Anyone who sat through the hours of staff reports and Wal-Mart's presentation last week should have had the opportunity to speak, whether for or against the supercenter proposal.

I encourage the City of Polson to carefully re-evaluate the process for reviewing of Wal-Mart's application before the people of Polson are asked to endure another marathon session in the decision making process.

Carolyn Beecher

Ronan