Thirteen  months ago Manteca moved planning commission meetings to the first and third Thursdays in a bid to make the city more business friendly by reducing wait time between planning commission approved projects and when they could be considered by the City Council.

Now staff wants to pare back the number of planning commission meetings to once a month as well as move up the start time to 6 p.m. from the current 7 p.m.

Under the proposal the planning commission will meet the third Thursday of each month at 6 p.m.

The Planning Commission will consider the changes when they meet Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.

The justification for the changes as outlined in a report to the planning commission from Development Services Director Chris Erias is as follows:

*Recent planning commission meetings have been cancelled or only had agendas with one or two items.

*A once a month meeting will provide for more robust agendas.

*Starting meetings at 7 p.m. creates an hour or a 1½ hours of “dead time” as staff’s typical work day ends at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. Erias most staff does not liv in Manteca “so a trip home and back is not feasible.”

*A survey of nearby jurisdictions from Turlock to Elk Grove indicates only two  other cities start planning commission meetings at 7 p.m. The others start them at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m.

*If meetings do run longer a 6 p.m. start time will make them more tolerable.

Erias noted the inclusion of a Zoom option allows for participation by citizens on tight schedules given Manteca’s high proportion of commuters including those that drive at least 90 minutes one way to a job. Manteca is at the heart of the nation’s largest number of such super commuters that account for 17 percent of the workforce.

Since the start of the pandemic, the city has also been livestreaming planning commission meetings via its website to allow those that simply want to observe to do so.

Before the switch to Thursdays there was a three-week wait week before an item the planning commission reviewed was advanced to the City Council for final consideration.
The City Council at the time — consisting of all current members except Charlie Halford who had yet to be elected  — lauded the move as making Manteca more business friendly and responsive.

Prior to September 2020 when a project was passed out of the planning commission there was not adequate time to do the legally required public noticing for the following week’s council meeting. That meant a three-week wait. By having the council and commission meet on the same week, items requiring public noticing were able to be heard by the council within 12 days.

The elimination of the first Thursday meeting would still keep the time an items goes from the planning commission to the council at nine days.

The other reason for shifting the planning commission was to get them off the second and fourth Tuesdays when the council typically tries to schedule special meetings.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com