Flipflop on zoning seat divides county
Staff writer
Appointing a new planning and zoning commissioner then rescinding the appointment and reappointing the commission’s chair has left county commissioners divided and on potentially shaky legal grounds.
Earlier this month, commission chairman Jonah Gehring nominated retired Hillsboro Elementary principal Evan Yoder, who also farms near Peabody, to serve on the commission. The vote to approve the appointment was unanimous.
Last week, however, commissioner Kent Becker raised issues with the appointment, which he had thought was one of two planning and zoning seats dedicated to each commissioner district.
Upon learning that the position instead was an at-large position, designated to serve as chairman of the planning group, and that incumbent Derek Belton had not been asked whether he wanted to continue, Becker moved to rescind the appointment and reappoint Belton instead.
State law allows county commissioners to rescind planning and zoning appointments but appears to require that the county declare them unfit or unqualified in doing so.
“There was discussion regarding the reason for the action to rescind; however, no reason was included in the actual motion and vote,” county administrator Tina Spencer said. “Our legal counsel will be reviewing the action to see if it was sufficient or if a correction is needed.”
The vote to rescind the appointment was 3-2, with Gehring and commissioner Clarke Dirks opposed.
Belton, the current planning and zoning chairman, was then nominated by Becker to continue in that role for another term.
A resolution setting up the planning and zoning commission limits members to serving no more than three consecutive three-year terms. Belton has served at least 11 years, but only part of that time has been in the at-large seat. He previously served in a seat designated for a specific county commissioner district.
Citing a legal opinion she says was issued Jan. 23, 2023, Spencer said that difference should allow him to continue.
“Derek Belton’s term limit would have reset when the new at-large position was created and filled in 2020,” she said. “Therefore, Mr. Belton is eligible to serve one final three-year term beginning in 2026.”
The rules regarding an at-large seat were redone before his appointment in 2020 to account for expanding from three county commissioner districts to five.
Spencer’s reference to a legal opinion didn’t impress Dirks.
“It’s not worth the paper it is written on,” he said.
The planning and zoning chairman position is no different than other planning and zoning positions, he contends.
The ordinance in question states that the at-large position is to be appointed by county commissioners “for a three-year term to serve under the same requirements as those other members appointed by the process.”
Other members must leave for at least a year after serving three terms.
Belton frequently has been criticized by wind farm opponents like Dirks, but Becker said his motion to rescind Yoder’s appointment and reappoint Belton had nothing to do with wind farms or personalities.
“Both are qualified,” he said. “It’s about procedure.”
Gehring said county rules spoke for themselves.
“I believe that should be resolved,” he said, and not by reappointing Belton. “I didn’t make that decision, and I don’t agree with it. I will say the commissioners made a mistake.”
Gehring said he wanted to review laws more thoroughly before commenting on whether the removal of Yoder from the commission without reason was legal.
“When I appointed Evan Yoder, I pointed to his willingness to serve, and it was uncontested,” Gehring said. “I was opposed to all of this happening.”
Dirks said commissioners who voted to rescind Yoder’s appointment and reappoint Belton likely had their own reasons.
Commissioner Dave Crofoot, who voted for the actions, did not comment. The other commissioner who voted for the actions, Mike Beneke, said that the county’s legal counsel had said the actions were OK.
“That is my opinion,” he said.