In May 2021, Kristin Collins, an attorney for several Sanford businesses, presented a letter to the City Council expressing their dissatisfaction with Sanford’s planning and development review process. In response, the Council retained independent Attorney James Katsiaficas to investigate the complaints and submit a report.
At the City Council meeting on September 21, City Manager Steven Buck spent considerable time going through the report of the results of the investigation, and added comments of his own on how the City might take action on the findings.
Among the report’s findings and recommendations:
In summary, the report found that allegations of government corruption, unethical practices and malicious intent are “over the top and unhelpful.” Communication delays have been more common in the past year due to Covid and a shortage of Planning Department staff. Changes intended to promote a more business-friendly atmosphere have had unintended consequences.
Mr. Buck showed the Council a timeline of several of the projects that resulted in the most complaints. Time and again, applications were found to be incomplete and sent back for additional information. In some cases, this process took years until the full information was finally received. If a policy to not review incomplete applications was instituted, it would save the Planning Department time and the applicants money.
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