Letter: Please stop the madness (July 21)
May I please clarify that the July 13 decision (4-0-1) by the Planning Commission to refer the proposed Text Amendment to adopt the Madera County Air Quality Element (GP# 2010-003) and refer it to the Board of Supervisors without a positive recommendation was not due to inaction or lack of courage.
The decision to refer without recommendation was, and is, a concerted action by members of the Madera County Planning Commission to stem the rubber stamping of state mandates, which provide no cost analysis, sustainable financing guarantees nor valid economic impact discovery.
While the scientific assumption and political agenda for the proposed amendment may certainly be called into question, my personal and primary concern remains with the potential for permanent economic damage through nebulous implementation, unspecified and unfunded costs and predictable future development disincentives.
I applaud Matt Treber’s and staff’s highly professional efforts in the research and preparation of this mandatory proposal and considered several elements contained therein to be of a solid value.
However, if I may call your attention to the certified statements on pages 54 and 71 of GP# 2010-003, where “findings indicate that the proposed project will have no effect on the environment.”
May I please ask your collective support in rejecting this premise in its current form. The madness must stop somewhere.
Ray A. Krause, Jr.,
Planning commissioner,
Madera County
