BRUNSWICK

As the series of public comments on an extensive, complex rewrite of Brunswick’s zoning ordinance wraps up, some on the town council wonder if it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate the process.

Members of the Brunswick Town Council on Monday lambasted the rewrite process as confusing and out-of-touch with regular citizens. As a result of those complaints, Interim

Town Manager John Eldridge said he would draft a “roadmap” that would layout the rewrite process going forward.

The Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Committee — or ZORC — had been planning to spend an additional $10,000 to extend the committee’s contract with a consultant by six months in order to develop a second draft of the rewrite, according to Brunswick’s director of planning and development Anna M. Breinich.

However, council members appeared on Monday to be dissatisfied with the rewrite process, in particular how ZORC has interacted with the public.

ZORC has collected 48 pages of comments since the draft rewrite was released, according to Breinich and had planned on meeting today to begin reviewing public comment.

The second draft would have incorporated public feedback gathered so far, said Eldridge.

“I think before you engage another interim document, we need to engage with citizens,” said Councilor Jane Millett, who noted that she had submitted more than three pages of written questions on the rewrite. “I would like to get answers to my questions.”

Town Councilor Steven Walker said he was hesitant to “throw more money at this.”

“Most of the public I’ve heard from are lost in this process,” said Walker, who suggested the council “hit pause” on the process. “I don’t feel another $10,000 investment is a wise move.”

Council Chairman Benet Pols acknowledged there has “been a lot of criticism about the process,” and that the second draft was an attempt to rectify that.

Eldridge said the town was attempting to do “as much outreach and education as possible.” The second draft, he said, would help address public concerns without killing the project outright.

ZORC has been working on the rewrite regularly since October 2013. At one point, ZORC had hoped to have a rewrite ready for the council’s approval around the end of this year.

Now it looks like the council won’t receive a proposed rewrite until well into next year.

Councilor John Richardson said he supported an executive summary of what ZORC is proposing, something that has been lacking so far.

What is also needed, said Millett, is a more conversational approach

“What’s lacking in this process is personal give-andtake,” she said. “We have a presentation and a number of citizens getting up to say, ‘What is this?’ and no responses are being made.

“It feels like we’re going around the mulberry bush, when what we need to do is go straight,” Millett added.

Funding to extend the contract would come from the planning office’s budget, which had been earmarked for developing design guidelines for the Village Review Board. That project would have been delayed until the next fiscal year.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

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