Tuesday, April 29, 2008 • LAFCo continues to define its role

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, April 29, 2008 edition of the Lassen County Times.

Just how much power does the Lassen County Local Formation Commission have,

and how should it wield that power?

That’s a question LAFCo has been trying to answer for the past several months.

Currently the commission, comprised of two members from the Susanville City Council, two members from the Lassen County Board of Supervisors and a public member, is taking a couple of months to review its policies and procedures.

Over the past few months, John Benoit, LAFCo’s executive director, has told the commissioners they have great latitude in making decisions, but the commission must follow its policies and procedures.

“You can pretty much do anything because you’re a quasi-legislative body,” Benoit said, as long as the action is consistent with LAFCo’s local policies and procedures.

And over the past few months commission members from both the city and the county have expressed concerns about LAFCo adding yet another layer of government to an already complicated planning process.

They also expressed concern that an appointed commission such as LAFCo could interfere with decisions made by officials elected by the people.

At the commission’s April 14 meeting, Benoit reported on his recent attendance at a statewide conference where this issue was discussed.

He said LAFCo is supposed to “encourage orderly growth development and discourage urban sprawl.”

He characterized that role as “the big picture stuff.” He said an attorney at the conference defined LAFCo’s role as defining the “orderly formation of local agencies based on local conditions and circumstances.”

Benoit said the LAFCo is required to consider a large number of items before making decisions — a number that gets larger every year thanks to the state legislature.

“When you sit on the board of supervisors or the city council, you weigh the evidence, and you make a decision,” Benoit said.

He noted there’s a big difference between taking an action based on information before the commission and considering that information.

“The key word is consider,” Benoit said.

He said are times when LAFCo has to intervene, and he mentioned an incident at another county where LAFCo had to ask the city of the county to revise its general plan before it approved a proposed development. Benoit said he doubted that situation would ever arise in Lassen County because the city and the county work so well together.

“LAFCo doesn’t have the authority to directly control land use or set zoning,” Benoit said, but the commission can say a project “doesn’t provide for the orderly provision of services.”

He said while LAFCo doesn’t control a city or county’s general plan, “we can say that’s not acceptable for future growth. That’s what the legislature intended. LAFCo has lots of authority should it choose it be used under those circumstances.”

Commissioner and Supervisor Lloyd Keefer said, “My concern would be we don’t forget the legal basis for why we’re here, and I personally don’t like to see us get to far a field of that. If we can consider things and we have good reasons to do something, then we can do it.”

Benoit said the LAFCo powers were intended to be used “judiciously and differently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. What they do in Plumas LAFCo, that’s fine, they can do that, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be done here at Lassen LAFCo. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be done in every circumstance.”

The executive director told the commissioners these decisions can be made locally, and the commissioners will know when it’s time for them to step in.

“When the time comes,” Benoit said, “you’ll know when you want to impose a certain term or condition.”