Aside from a joint planning office with jointly funded staff, the recommendations call for numerous changes to local utility fees, policies and ordinances, which some have argued encourage development to be annexed into city boundaries and hinder the county's ability to collect new tax revenue.
Two committees spent more than a year to develop the recommendations, after several county magistrates complained in 2006 that the current planning process puts the county at a disadvantage, and the Clark County Fiscal Court voted to study the cost and benefits of splitting from the joint planning commission and creating a separate commission.
The committee recommendations say that annexation should not be promoted by either the planning commission or the planning office.
Committee members also advocate for a review of local sign regulations, a joint code enforcement board, county maintenance codes for subdivisions, and yearly reviews of the planning commission's comprehensive plan in addition to the regular five-year update.
Several other recommendations, such as equalizing hydrant fees between the city and county and repealing a local garage protrusion ordinance, have already been undertaken in recent weeks.
In addition to the recommendations, city commissioners on Tuesday also supported hiring an extra code enforcement officer and engineering tech to divide the larger workload created by a joint planning office.
"I think it has been a good process," said Mayor Ed Burtner, who also served on the review committee. "It has been a good work product that we have come up with."
Burtner reported that a new 12-person committee charged with studying local sign regulations began meeting Monday night, and a public hearing on the current sing ordinances is in the works.
He added that the Fiscal Court still needs to develop a property maintenance code and the two governments need to begin work on a joint code enforcement board.
"There are several more things that still need to be done," he said.
Reed praised the officials and volunteers who participated in the committee process.
"We really went from ground zero ... to a document that I think, the committee itself needs to be commended for," she said. "I am so glad to see us working together as a community."
