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TAKING THE OATH – From left, Timothy Wiley, Cassandra Harvey, Courtney Stallworth, Sean Donlon, Darren Parker, Diana D. Cook, and Thomas “Randy” Hall are sworn in by Lancaster Vice Mayor Ron Smith as members of the Architectural and Design Planning Commission on Friday in City Council chambers at City Hall. MOLLY HAUXWELL/Valley Press

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

Valley Press

LANCASTER – Seven members have taken their oaths of office for a new city commission created to develop architectural guidelines for future residential, commercial and industrial construction.

Diana D. Cook, Sean Donlon, Thomas “Randy” Hall, Cassandra Harvey, Darren Parker, Courtney Stallworth and Timothy Wiley were sworn in Friday by Vice Mayor Ron Smith during a brief ceremony in City Council chambers at City Hall.

The commissioners were nominated by Mayor R. Rex Parris and ratified by the City Council. Parris originally picked Cook’s husband, Richard, for one of the seats, but he declined appointment because of his professional obligations and asked that his wife be considered in his place.

The Architectural and Design Planning Commission’s work will include researching the guidelines for other communities, reviewing Lancaster’s current architecture and design, understanding its Specific Plans and recommending new guidelines for adoption by the City Council, officials said.

No date has been announced yet for the commission’s first meeting.

Tags: Architecture, City of Lancaster, Darren Parker by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Saturday, August 23, 2008.

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER – Voting unanimously, the City Council has agreed to appoint Sean Donlon, Thomas “Randy” Hall, Cassandra Harvey, Darren Parker, Courtney Stallworth and Timothy Wiley to a new commission created to develop architectural guidelines for future residential, commercial and industrial construction in the city.

Besides recommending new aesthetic standards, the commission will resolve planning conflicts between developers and city staff members.

A seventh nominee for the commission, Richard Cook, declined appointment because of his professional obligations and asked that his wife be considered in his place.

Since his wife was not scheduled for nomination, the council took no action during the Aug. 12 on filling the seventh seat on the panel.

Commission members were directed to set a date for the panel’s first meeting, where they will seat officers and establish a regular meeting schedule.

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Tags: Architecture, City of Lancaster, Community, Darren Parker, Design by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Sunday, July 20, 2008.

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER – The mayor is expected Tuesday to identify the people he wants the City Council to approve for positions on a new Architectural and Design Planning Commission.

The commission will be assigned the task of setting new aesthetic design standards for homes and buildings set for construction in the city.

Creation of the A&D commission was proposed by Mayor R. Rex Parris shortly after his election in April.

A past member of the primary Planning Commission, Parris said he considered the panel too busy with development plans and land-use matters to focus on issues related to aesthetics and design.

“I think it’s too late for us to do a ‘theme’ for the city, like Santa Barbara has a Spanish theme. But it’s not too late for us to do themes for (specific) areas of the city,” Parris said in May. “Now what we have is this hodge-podge of boxes in the city of Lancaster, and I want to see that changed.

“I want this (new) commission to come up with clear design standards so that when you cross Avenue M (from Palmdale), you know you’re in a new city,” he said.

“There is no reason for us to look the way we look, and I think if we had a separate planning commission to deal with those issues, it would be beneficial for all of us.”

At the council’s July 8 meeting, the mayor identified Darren Parker as one of the residents he intended to appoint, but said he had yet to decide on the rest of the slate.

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Tags: Architecture, City of Lancaster, Darren Parker, Design, Planning by admin
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