Commission discusses speaker-address policy; executive secretary announces city budget public hearing

At its April 15 meeting the Newport News Planning Commission debated whether to change current practice requiring speakers to provide a street address when offering public comment.

Commissioners said knowing a speaker’s proximity to a project can help the commission evaluate comments; others raised privacy concerns because addresses can now be widely accessed online. Legal staff told the commission there is no statutory requirement to collect a street address and that the commission could set its own practice. Several commissioners asked staff to place the topic on a future work session to weigh pros and cons and draft possible language that balances proximity with privacy.

Separately, the executive secretary reported that the city’s first budget public hearing was held the night before and announced a second public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow at Denbigh Community Center. The secretary also noted the May 6 Planning Commission agenda will include a commissary kitchen item continued from the April 1 meeting.

Commissioners did not take formal action on the speaker-address question and asked staff to return with options for the commission to consider at a later work session.