In a return to prepandemic form, speakers at the Planning Commission will once again be able to donate and amass time in order to allow presentations of up to 10 minutes.
As of today, in-person speakers can receive donated time that is about double what they would normally be allotted. That means primary speakers will get up to eight, not five, minutes. And speakers who would normally have two or three minutes to speak can get up to four or six minutes, respectively. They will not apply to those who opt to speak virtually at Planning Commission meetings.
These rules are similar to those in place prior to the pandemic. When meetings switched to an all-virtual format, time donation was suspended and has stayed suspended as meetings have evolved to a mostly in-person but more hybrid format that seems to be sticking around. Staff Liaison Andrew Rivera explained that as that system has become more familiar to those who operate it, donation of time is once again possible.
“I do think it’s something that we could implement now, and I do think the public would appreciate it,” Rivera said.
Rivera explained that allowing virtual time donation “could add some complexities” to the process in terms of verifying identities and how public hearings are conducted. “I wouldn’t put that totally out of the question. I would ask that we initially start with in-person speakers and look at it again at a future time, if we want to include remote speakers,” he said.
“I can understand not taking action on the virtual (speakers) this evening … but I do think it’s important for us to consider that,” said Commissioner Jennifer Mushtaler. “We’ve talked a lot about improving accessibility and having a fair way for people to participate. … We’ve helped the city move along in teleworking policies and things like that. So I’d love to see us find a way to make that work for our commission meetings as well.”
Rivera said he could commit to revisiting the issue in six months. “I just want to make sure that we really have the donation of time really down and make it to where the public is not confused,” he said.
To allow for administrating speaker times, in-person registration will close at 5:30 p.m., a half-hour before Planning Commission meetings convene. Remote speaker registration closes at 2 p.m. the day of meetings.
The rules apply to regular cases but may change for specially called meetings such as the recent joint meeting with City Council that served as a public hearing for proposed changes to the Land Development Code.
When asked if the rules could also be suspended for certain cases that seem to merit an exception, Rivera said that they could be suspended or altered for certain meetings, but not necessarily on a case-by-case basis.
The changes were adopted without objection.
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City of Austin Planning Commission: This commission addresses issues of land use as assigned to it by Austin's City Code. These include the abilities "[t]o make and amend a master plan, recommend approval or disapproval of proposed zoning changes and control land subdivision within neighborhood planning areas and submit, annually, a list of recommended capital improvements." It has sovereign authority, or the right to make final decisions on certain cases.
