Blog Update from City of Decatur Planning Department
Planning – current situation and staffing
We are striving to provide needed services to the public every day. We currently have a single staff member on site Monday through Friday between 8 and 5 to answer questions, by appointment, and provide services as allowed by the standards established by the Governor and the Mayor. Each staff member has their direct line forwarded to their personal cell so that they can receive and respond to calls from remote locations. Our mainline is also forwarded and calls and messages are being handled.
We have worked diligently to continue to provide access to public meetings and review committee meetings, while following the guidelines provided by the Governor and Mayor. We have review committee and new development meetings via conference call.
We successfully held a Planning Commission meeting that included five zoning amendments each with a required public hearing. We delivered handbills with the following language included.
The property owners nearby worked to communicate with us via email and we were able to share those comments and answers them at the required public hearing. The hearing was live streamed and the citizens were able to watch and hear their concerns read and questions addressed.
We also had a public hearing on a preliminary subdivision plat and notified property owners by registered mail. We used very similar language to that above and were able to get comments and read them to the commission. We were also ready with answers because we had the questions prior to the meeting. Planning Commission meetings like other City of Decatur Public Meetings can viewed on line within twelve hours of the meeting as required. The link is provided here.
https://www.youtube.com/c/CityofDecaturAL
We appreciate all the hard work that our review committee and commissioners have put into helping us maintain a high standard of service and transparent public meetings. Our working community and our community at large have responded to the challenging situation with great dignity and resilience. We are truly thankful.
Karen Smith
Planning Department