The Planning Commission - a DPPA forum Every city has one, and yet to many of us, its mission is unknown. This unfamiliar governmental body might determine how wetlands are dealt with when development could impact them. It might be a primary reason you are able to enjoy a public walkway along a stretch of lakefront, or the reason you find yourself living unexpectedly next door to a demolition landfill. What is this group? It's a city's Planning Commission -- an organization that almost always has substantial impact on a community. In Duluth, the mayor appoints members of the 13-member Planning Commission; those appointments are reviewed and voted upon by the City Council. It's only seldom that the City Council chooses not to approve those appointments. The work Commissioners do demands multiple meetings and many hours each month, but they are not paid for their service -- it is strictly a volunteer arrangement. Duluth's Planning Commission has found itself at times entangled in some of the city's most sticky issues -- such as whether a golf course should be built at Spirit Mountain or how Bed and Breakfasts should operate in Duluth's neighborhoods. The Planning Commission has over the years been charged by some with not adequately representing the diverse members of the Duluth community as well as for not meeting the needs of citizens by holding its meetings at 9 a.m. on a weekday. On January 25, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., the Duluth Public-Policy Alliance hosts a forum on the Duluth Planning Commission. The forum will answer such questions as what effect the Planning Commission has over our everyday lives, what direction this influential Commission could and should take in the future, and what Planning Commissioners see as the most challenging aspects of their jobs. Forum participants will be Planning Commissioner Donn Larson, Senior Planner Jim Mohn, Dave Lee of the A. Charles Weiss B&B, and local civic activist Nancy Nelson. The forum is open to DPPA members and the public alike. DPPA's Planning Commission forum Saturday, January 25 10 to 11:30 a.m. Fireside Room, behind Bennett's Restaurant. Coffee served. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.

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