Becker Refrains from Shake-Up in City Planning Division

None by KCPW

Community Critics Say Planners "Out of Control"

(KCPW News) Mayor-elect Ralph Becker plans to replace the existing director of Community Development and add economic development to the department's title. But, he's not planning any initial shake-up of the planning division, which has come under fierce criticism.

"Those people have been out of control, and whoever the director is going to be - George Shaw or somebody else - that person has got to get control over that staff," says Shane Carlson, head of the Salt Lake Community Coalition for Orderly Development.

The Coalition for Orderly Dvelopment organized over the summer, claiming planning staff have mishandled zoning and permits. A spokesman for Mayor-elect Becker says he wants to let current efforts to improve the planning division play out. Planning Division director George Shaw will keep his job when Becker takes office. Carlson says he's not concerned with who leads the division, but how well that person cleans house in lower-level positions.

"Ralph (Becker) as a planner is going to want to get a hands on look at what's going on," says Carlson. "And I think he's going to get that over the next several months."

At that point, Carlson says he'll be very concerned if significant changes haven't been made to the planning department. A recent statement from the Salt Lake Community Coalition for Orderly Development says city officials should take immediate action to repair a planning system that has pitted neighbor against neighbor.

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