Daily Archives: September 6, 2012

Fremont County Planning Commission OKs second change to subdivision regulations

Posted: September 6, 2012 at 5:17 am

The Fremont County Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a second amendment to the county subdivision regulations, this one covering the sketch plan and exemptions section of the regulations.

"The biggest part of this amendment is taking the language we use in zoning and converting it here so we have consistency," Planning and Zoning Director Bill Giordono said.

A sketch plan is an optional, non-binding concept phase of a project in most circumstances and the department does not see them often, Giordono said.

"Some developers will do it so the public around them will get a feel for (the project)," said planning coordinator Marshall Butler.

Planning Commissioner Steve Smith expressed a concern about a provision limiting resubmittal of an application for two years after a denial.

"It seems like it would be better to have it come back fresh rather than wait two years," he said "It seems we're trying to block progress."

Giordono explained the limit is only on those applications that do not include significant changes addressing the reasons for denial. If any of those reasons are addressed, he said, the application can be resubmitted at any time.

In August, the planning commission approved a similar amendment to the definitions section of the regulations, and in October, they will consider an amendment to the preliminary application section of the regulations.

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Fremont County Planning Commission OKs second change to subdivision regulations

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Reforms limit free speech: News Ltd boss

Posted: at 5:17 am

News Limited chief Kim Williams has hit out at proposed media reforms, claiming they threaten free speech and devalue media companies.

Mr Williams says he fears that media reforms proposed by the federal government's Finkelstein and Convergence reviews threaten press freedom and the economic value of media companies.

The Convergence Review has called for a new communications regulator as well as a controversial public interest test for prospective media company owners to help protect diversity.

But, Mr Williams argues, Australia's media diversity in the past decade has increased because free-to-air networks and the ABC had launched digital channels, Foxtel had 13 independent news channels and there was a large array of internet news sites.

He said delays, while the government considered the public interest of any new acquisition, devalued media assets and the test could be abused by politicians seeking to control the media.

"Such tests are subject to political control and the very real possibility of politicians stopping people acquiring media assets just because they don't agree with them or even just don't like them," he told the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association (PANPA) forum in Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Williams also accused the federal government of setting up the Finkelstein Review into media practices because it did not like reporting from his company's newspapers.

"I find it, as I hope all of you do, deeply concerning we have reached a place where words like government, journalist and jailing can all appear in the same sentence when describing a report by a retired judge," he said.

He added that he was concerned political motivations were behind the review headed by Ray Finkelstein, QC, which was established in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal in the UK.

"For our overseas visitors, it may strike you as odd that there are two reports into the media at the same time," he said.

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