If sagging attendance at public hearings on Ketchums comprehensive
plan is any indicator, residents are completely burned out on the issue.
And no wonder.
It was impossible for the average person to keep track of the whole
process. Now the new plan, which will shape the face of Ketchum for the next 20 years, is
headed for approvaljust six working days after the final draft was released to the
public.
The Ketchum City Council will hear comments on the plan at 9:30 a.m.
tomorrow.
The city isnt giving the publicthe people with jobs, kids and
lives that involve things besides daily monitoring of city businesstime to scan and
absorb the plan. So much for the wheels of government grinding slowly.
So why worry, especially when the whole process has taken four years? This
is why: The final draft has been revised and rewritten by the council since the P&Z
approved it in late July. Its now a different document.
The city council is obviously sick of the long process and obviously wants
it overfast. Too fast.
This meager public exposure stands in stark contrast to the kind of
exposure given even the tiniest change in city ordinances. Such changes are normally read
at least three times in three separate public meetings, to give the public adequate time
to absorb.
The council shouldnt rush approval. It should give the public plenty
of time to review and comment on a plan that must stand the test of time.