Snyderville Basin Planning Commissioners evaluate proposals for new building projects, write the development code that guides growth in the Basin and provide citizen oversight for the often-overlooked processes that determine how, where and what kind of things are built.
After an announcement Tuesday night, it appears there will be an open seat on the commission starting early next year.
Crystal Simons, joining the meeting via Zoom, told her fellow commissioners that she would not seek a second term when hers expires in March.
“It’s just too much in my current lifestyle with small children. Which — one is right here in the room with me, as she has just announced,” Simons said as the voice of a child could be heard in the background.
Simons was appointed in 2019 and her term is set to expire in 2022. She said she needed to prioritize her family, and with two young children, the time commitment had become challenging.
Commissioner Chris Conabee’s term will also expire next year. Conabee told KPCW he hadn’t discussed the matter with the County Council or county staff.
“If I’m needed I am happy to reapply,” he said.
Planning commissioners are appointed to three-year terms by the Summit County Council. The commission generally evaluates whether projects comply with the county’s development code — if parking and snow removal plans pass muster, for example. The commission is often a recommending body to the County Council, which is not bound by the commission's decisions.
Occasionally, the commission is the final land-use authority for permits and approvals. It can also act in a legislative capacity. It did so last year when it forwarded a negative recommendation about the Tech Center development proposal at Kimball Junction.
Planning commissions can springboard officials to broader elected office. County Councilors Doug Clyde and Malena Stevens are both former planning commissioners.
