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Commissioner Pearce asked Mr. Huff if he has had any experience with the concept of neighborhood conservation districts. Mr. Huff said yes. He added that he believes such a district should still rely on the bureaucracy of staff in terms of interpretation and should not have the ability to regulate. He stated that he thinks it has similar enforcement ability as a historic preservation ordinance, and the ultimate authority of whether a structure can be added onto should lie with staff. Mike Carey, Downtown property owner and real estate broker, stated that his family He indicated that he is not in favor of a historic preservation ordinance until the Planning Division becomes more user-friendly. He noted that he, along with many others, worked on a Customer Service Review Task Force (CSRT) sponsored by the City which was commissioned to streamline the work of the different City departments, and he thinks the document produced by CSRT would be a great instrument to help expedite the Planning efficiency. Mr. Carey stated that the notification process for this meeting did not adequately notice property owners who will be affected by the altering of their property rights. He noted that many of his clients indicate that staff does not follow any clear set of rules and that there are confusing criteria for development. He indicated that Mr. regarding utilizing outside experts and agreeing with their findings is untrue, noting that in the last 100 days, there have been three applicants required by the City to perform a historic evaluation, and results have been disregarded by the Commission, City Council, and staff. He stated that this is very discouraging for the applicants and that staff has been unfriendly, subjective, and unclear to work with. In conclusion, he asked that the City survey Downtown applicants of the last two years to obtain feedback and documented responses. Jon Harvey, Downtown property owner, stated that said he came into the process having the experience of having built a custom home in Kottinger Ranch in the late noted that he was on the Planning Commission for a year and on the Zoning Board with the County for six years; he has attended urban design conferences, has friends who are land use attorneys, and feels he is pretty well-informed. Mr. Harvey stated that he purchased a lot on Neal Street, studied the DTSP, DTDG, zoning ordinance, and second unit ordinance, and hired an architect. He added that he met with the former Planning Director Jerry Iserson and Principal Planner Donna Decker, who recommended that he talk with the neighbors, who while recognizing that he had the right to build a house on the property, did not want a house built there. He indicated that he submitted the plans, went through design review and the PHA forms, and got through the process after changing the door, roof, and trees based on neighborhood feedback. PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MINUTES, March 9, 2011 Page 16 of 24