GRANITE QUARRY — The Planning Board voted during a review of the rules of procedure to remove courtesy hearings for rezoning and development projects during their meeting Wednesday night. In the future, community input will instead come from neighborhood meetings hosted by the developers.

The idea for the change came from N-Focus Planning, a planning company providing services to Granite Quarry. A consultant from N-Focus was at the Planning Board meeting and provided his input on how best to update the rules of procedure in order to fulfill the purpose of the board.

According to the consultant, Rick Flowe, the move to remove courtesy hearings should help the planning board in their move to focusing solely on providing technical reviews and recommendations to the Granite Quarry Board of Aldermen.

“You’re not elected. That’s the job of the elected officials. So your role was that visionary, forward thinking, looking ahead role and then the governing board takes your recommendation to vote. We present that and then they listen to the public and then they have to make that final decision. They’re the ones to sign up for that big paycheck,” said Flowe, who is also president and CEO of N-Focus.

Flowe also stressed that planning boards are not required by state law to hold public hearings.

“I think that we don’t want to be overstepping our bounds and tripping on things that the board of aldermen should be handling,” said Richard Luhrs, the chairman of the planning board.

Instead of the courtesy hearings, Granite Quarry’s new ordinances require developers to host a neighborhood meeting in order to receive the public’s comments and concerns. According to Flowe, those meetings will be held in the town hall and attended by him.

Part of the reasoning was to help the planning board stay within its intended purpose of technical review of rezoning and development plans. Instead of hearing the emotionally charged arguments of the developer and members of the surrounding community, the planning board will hear the simple facts of the case and provide a recommendation to the board of aldermen based on that.

“As long as the public has an opportunity to speak at some juncture in the process, I don’t think it needs to be under our view,” said Luhrs.

The changes to the rules of procedure have not been formalized yet. The board will vote on whether or not to adopt the changes, including the removal of courtesy hearings, during their meeting in August.

The planning board also voted on officers for the upcoming term. Richard Luhrs was reelected as the chairman of the board while Joe Hudson was elected vice-chairman Wednesday night.