During my second four-year term as Mayor, work began, with grant funding, on updating the Town’s General Plan. That work was completed, and a revised General Plan was approved by the new Mayor and Town Council. Two of the Land Use Goals in that plan are “anticipate and encourage managed and planned growth,” and “maintain the small-town rural feel of Leeds.” One stated strategy to achieve this is “require new residential development to be compatible and consistent with the town’s historic land use patterns and/or adjacent developed lot sizes.” Regrettably, with the establishment of and recommendation for multiple new zoning districts proposed by developers for the Town of Leeds since the General Plan was adopted, focus on those two Land Use Goals has been lost. As a Town we need to go back to the stated Land Use Theme in the General Plan of “preserving the town’s rural character and history in all future planning and development activities.”
Communication between Leeds residents and Town Officials has, on multiple occasions, become strained in recent years. Previously, when I was Mayor, I learned a lot about what was best for Leeds by listening to residents. This listening occurred both during Town Council meetings and outside of Town Council meetings. Listening did not always result in agreeing with a particular resident, but I always strove to take the time to consider what the resident had said and to treat them respectfully. Going forward I would expand Public Comment at Town Council meetings back to what it was from 2014-2021, which was a time-period near the start of the meeting and a second time-period near the end of the meeting. Initial comments by an individual attendee during a time-period were limited to three minutes. If the individual still had more to say, they would be given the opportunity to do so after every other attendee interested in speaking had made their initial comments. This rotation of up to three-minute comments would continue until there was no more interest in speaking. Given the need for Town Council to address Action Items at most meetings, the first Public Comment time-period could be limited in time after 30-minutes by a vote of the Town Council, but this never occurred during my eight years as Mayor. The second time-period was open-ended, subject to a loss of Council member-quorum, which also never occurred during my time as Mayor. Certain items, such as the budget and amendments to the Town’s Land Use Ordinance, require Public Hearings at either the Town Council and/or the Planning Commission. Public Hearings are different from Public Comment, but were governed by the same three-minute process. I find it disingenuous for a Public Hearing to be immediately followed by action being taken by the Council or Planning Commission. In order to allow time for comments made during a Public Hearing to be respectfully considered, I planned, whenever possible, to schedule the Action Item on that Public Hearing for a subsequent meeting, and would reinstitute that policy going forward.
Community events are not obligations; they are opportunities to get together with our neighbors. Leeds has benefited throughout my time living here from a tremendous amount of community volunteerism, allowing events to be planned and enjoyed by many residents. In addition to continuing the traditional events tied to dates on the calendar, I propose having the Town sponsor a monthly dinner at the Peach Pit Pavillion from March through October, where the Town has a hot charcoal fire ready for cooking at the appointed hour, and residents are asked to bring their entrée to grill for themselves and either a side dish or dessert to share with others. It is hard to build and sustain community without opportunities to get together and interact as a community.
Wayne Peterson For Leeds Mayor 