Harry Reinert, who is responsible for the DDES' legislative issues, tells GlobeSt that previously such requests were handled informally and at no charge. Now, having a code interpreted comes bundled in red tape that could significantly increase the number of man hours necessary to fulfill the ordinance.
Reinert says the new process could take several hours just to get the preliminary paper work in order before the department even begins to delve into the substantive issues. The new $250 fee for such a request is likely to not even come close to covering the expense to the county in handling interpretation requests.
In controversial cases, it could be required to mail out literally hundreds of copies of documents pertaining to a particular issue or development. Reinert says hopefully the way the ordinance was drafted will help avoid abuse of the process by disgruntled parties just wanting to throw a wrench into a development's progress.
Fortunately, there is a built-in fail safe, a sundown clause that causes the ordinance to expire in about a year. At that time, a review of the process will be performed to determine if any changes needs to be made to the process, as well as its impacts on the departments other responsibilities.
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