Planning panel still faces empty chairs problem

Guy Williams will chair his last meeting of Whitman County’s planning commission next month, if the panel can field a quorum, that is. Williams is leaving the local zoning board after more than 15 years as a member.

The volunteer commission sets land use policy for the county. In recent years, the planning commission has dealt with a number of controversial issues, including zoning laws for wind farms, housing in the agricultural zone and development rules for the Pullman-Moscow Corridor.

His departure shrinks the ranks of the already under-sized commission.

“Yeah, it’s getting desperate now,”...