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Show CASTLE VALLEY TIMES DIVERSE TIMES Castle Valley, Utah - Volume 6, Number 2 - February 15, 1997 - Consensus? WHAT CONSENSUS? lfiDWN C—OUNCIL RECONSIDERS B&B VOTE: 3-2 VOTE PROHIBITS MORE B&B’S Over the years I keep hearing references to the “common ground” or consensus shared by Castle Valley residents and property owners. I believe this notion is one of the myths that With all five Town Council members present at the February 12th Town Council meeting, and with the B&B issue back on the agenda, the Town Council voted to prohibit more B&B’s in the Town. Mayor Valli Smouse, Pat Drake, and Jayne Smythe voted to prohibit more B&B’s; Charlie Kulander and Dave Wagstalf dissented. (Both Charlie and Dave had wanted to allow more B&B’s, but reduce the size of future B&B’s to 2 rooms maximum.) keeps Castle Valley in turmoil. People moved here and continue to live here for completely different reasons. Some came for the natural beauty, some for inexpensive land, some for friends and community, some to escape personal problems, some to It was a strange and confusing night at the old firestation. There were six escape the city, and some to be able to agenda items that involved B&B’s in one way or another. [To even begin to appreciate the irony of the evening, one needs to know that only two days earlier, the Town Council held a closed. executive session “to discuss and review the proposed contract between the Town of Castle Valley and the Castle Valley Inn.” The only possible legal reason in this instance to have an executive session, closed to the public, is for “strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation” (Utah Code 52-45).] First there was a hearing for continuing to permit B&B’s, but reduce them to 2 rooms max. and limiting them to serving breakfast only. [How there could be a public hearing when the Town Council had not decided in a public meeting to do so is an interesting separate question] The first item of new business was the consideration of a new B&B request by Janie Tuft for her home on Pope Lane. This request had been made legally during lapse in the moratoriums preventing more B&B’s. Janie’s request for a 2 com B&B was approved unanimously (with many restrictions attached). The third and fourth items were to vote on the two B&B amendments on the enda The first was to allow more B&B’s, but to limit them to 2 bedrooms; the econd was to reconsider the vote at the last TC meeting to prohibit B&B’s together. Jayne Smythe made the motion to change the order of business and to econsider last month’s vote first. This was approved. After some discussion the vote this month went 3-2 in favor of adopting the amendment to the zoning ordinance that would prohibit more B&B’s. [Jack Campbell had called Utah League of Cities and Towns and found that it was legal to reconsider a vote specifically when one of the council members had not been presentand asked to have the vote reconsidered. Valli said the Town attorney concurred with this] do anything they wanted on their land Some were born here. Just look around and the diversity is obvious. Instead of learning how to live in a community that could be celebrating its diversity, we are told we should be trying to find some illusive and non-existent consensus. My experience is that people can often accept decisions they don’t personally agree with if there is a feeling that the decisions were made conscientiously and validly. This requires a lot of work. I believe that if we are willing to do the work necessary to make fair and legitimate community decisions, the amount of conflict will rapidly diminish in this valley. In a community with as much diversity as Castle Valley, there are ways to reduce the amount of friction and animosity. But if we’re supposed to be “looking for common ground,” these constructive techniques aren’t used because anything that includes lack of agreement is viewed as “being The Town Council then tabled the proposed amendment to allow B&B’s, but negative.” limit them to 2 bedrooms. This may allow the question of 2 bedroom B&B’s to A simple example: if several people be brought back at some future time without going through the entire public hearing process again. The next agenda item was for an appointment to the Planning Commission. Valli appointed Robert Ryan, owner of the CV Inn B&B, to the Planning Commission. (This is the individual who tried to develope a huge RV trailer park in Mayberry’s Orchard at the junction of the River Road and la Sal Loop Road, 6 or 7 years ago.) The commercial interests are now well represented on the PC. And the last B&B item on the agenda was to grant another 3 month extention to the temporary operating permit for the Castle Valley Inn B&B. The TC has been unsuccessful in working out an agreement with the CV Inn B&B in over a —More Consensus?, p. 4 lGOOD NEWS ABOUT 1997 FDA DUES The number of delinquent dues accounts has been reduwd by almost 60%thisyear. This yearaPOAdues reminder notice was mailed in mid-Jan (only to members who had not paid year of meetings. Early last year the CV Inn B&B had presented a request to the Town for numerous expansions to their current business. What prompted the recent Town Council executive session regarding the CV Inn B&B and possible their dues). The more dues paid on time, the fewer late fees...the fewer late litigation has not been made public at this time. it was well worth the effort! ——Jack Campbell fees, the fewer bad feelings. Looks like |