The Emporia Planning Commission has laid the foundation for what will be a five-month series of discussions on an old topic that has been renewed and expanded.
During their regular monthly meeting Tuesday night, the Emporia Metropolitan Area Planning Commission received a full schedule for their discussions on medical-related zoning policies as requested earlier this year by the Emporia City Commission. Planning Commission Chair Kenton Thomas says the schedule will see commissioners tentatively set to provide a recommendation and information to city leadership by November.
The new discussions come right about three years after the commission took up a proposed zoning text amendment presented by Newman Regional Health shortly after Stormont-Vail Health announced its plan to move out of its current Cotton O’Neil Clinic space and construct its own medical facility, which broke ground last month, near the intersection of West 18th and Road G in Emporia. Thomas, who was the only individual on the planning commission when it first took up the matter of medical-related zoning policies three years earlier, says there are some key differences between those conversations and those getting set to ramp up in the coming months.
First and foremost is the scope of the discussion and the timeframe.
Thomas also noted the fresh perspective on the current commission, noting that of the seven positions on the board, six are currently held by relatively new faces, something he believes could be a great benefit to the process as it unfolds. When asked if he was surprised to be revisiting the, albeit expanded yet, familiar topic at this time, Thomas stated he was not, as he felt there was some “unfinished business” following the last round of discussions on the subject.
In addition to their regular monthly meetings, Thomas says commissioners are likely to schedule several special sessions to fully address the zoning policies within the timeframe presented; however, no dates for those sessions have been announced just yet. Planning commissioners are next scheduled to convene for their monthly meeting in July.
