By James Rada Jr.
News Editor

THURMONT, Md. – Thurmont Mayor Martin Burns wants the town’s planning and zoning commission to function more like the town’s other committees and commissions so he is proposing restructuring the commission.

During the July 31 town meeting, the town commissioners talked about the recent vote by the planning and zoning commission not to recommend the annexation of the Myers Farm north. Of the six members present, three of them couldn’t vote on the issue.

Among the changes Burns suggested were:
• The town commissioner liaison should not be a voting member of the commission.
• The non-voting alternate members should be full voting members.
• The chairman, who can only vote in the event of a tie, should be allowed to vote.

“Then you’ve got more people from the public voting to make recommendations to us,” Burns said.

Planning and Zoning Chairman John Kinnaird said he only had an issue with making the alternate positions full voting members.

“It allows them to sit in meetings and be informed before needing to vote if a member can’t attend,” Kinnaird said.

He felt that the commissioner liaison already doesn’t vote on issues that he will be voting on as a commissioner. Both he and Burns were critical of the Frederick County Planning and Zoning Commission that allows the commissioner liaison to vote on an issue as a planning and zoning commission member and a county commissioner. Burns called it “double dipping by the commissioner at the county level.”

The only concern that Kinnaird has with allowing the chairman to vote on all issues is that “You can get in situations where the chairman is accused of running things a certain way to skew it toward his vote and that can be a valid concern.”

Burns said he will be bringing up his proposal at a future meeting with the town commissioners.

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