As of March 11, development within the city of Cortez answers to a new land use code.
Tuesday evening, Cortez City Council unanimously agreed to repeal its 30-year-old code and adopt the revised one that consultants, city officials and residents worked on for nearly two years.
It was the second reading of the new code before council, the first being Feb. 25. Before that, on Feb. 18, the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed and ultimately recommended it for adoption.
Jennifer Gardner, a senior associate planner at Logan Simpson who helped craft the code, gave a presentation before council voted to highlight some changes and to address a few specific concerns the public had during the 30-day review period.
Gardner highlighted major changes by chapter, and started by mentioning that the revised code has eight chapters instead of seven to give historic preservation its own section. Previously, it was “buried” in applications and procedures.
By and large, the chapters and their intentions remained the same.
Chapters were, however, “reformatted for consistency,” and a table of contents was added to each, as were tables and graphics throughout.
Plus, “some standards were pulled back, and others were pushed forward,” Gardner said. “It’s always kind of a push and pull with that.”
In Chapter 1, a major focus was in updating nonconforming provisions, and making those provisions structure- and use-specific.
The definition of “abandoned” also changed from six to 12 months vacant, and the definition of destruction changed from natural causes to any cause, since it’s “hard to determine cause sometimes,” said Gardner.
Chapter 2 is still definitions, though some are now paired with tables to ease understanding.
Gardner said they “spent a lot of time” tailoring Chapter 3, Zone District and Regulations, to Cortez.
To be sure, the zone districts remain the same.
Some zone names were changed to “align with their intent.” For example, “Manufactured Home District” on the south side of Cortez was changed to “Mixed Residential.”
“There are manufactured homes, but there’s also many single family homes, duplexes, large lot, small lot,” Gardner said. “It’s a real mix of housing types, and … calling it mixed residential captures that mix of uses.”
A lot of changes in this chapter are intended to make housing more flexible in the city, a goal now consistent in both the land use code and the city’s housing action plan.
Subdivision standards in Chapter 4 largely stayed the same, though they updated street standards, median standards and added optional bike lane standards, too.
Gardner called Chapter 5, which hones Site Development Standards, “a very meaty chapter.”
Off-street parking requirements were reduced, and alternative, shared parking standards were added. There’s also now lighting standards, a new addition to the code.
Gardner said the lighting standards are “a foundation to build from.”
“We took a middle-of-the-road approach between a full dark sky and nothing,” she said.
City lights must be fully downward directed and shielded; existing lights comply with this new standard.
There’s a new natural resource standard, too, which essentially adds buffer standards to protect waterways. There’s also an added provision to prohibit new billboards.
Next comes Chapter 6, administration and procedures.
That chapter was all reorganized, said Gardner.
It still lays out application types processes, though there’s now a chart to make such processes more digestible.
Also, minor site plans can be now approved by administration; only major ones need to be approved by City Council.
The new chapter on historic preservation is Chapter 7. Chapter 8 – flood plain regulations – largely stayed the same.
Gardner then highlighted questions and concerns that arose during the public’s window to review the drafted code.
Many comments were “positive,” praising the “layman’s terms” and “graphics making it easier to navigate” the code, she said.
There was one concern about a lack of a noise ordinance, but they added a section for that in Chapter 5, drawing from state requirements for it.
Someone asked about fertilizer regulations, and Gardner said the “land use code doesn’t have jurisdiction over that.”
City Attorney Patrick Coleman made eight amendment recommendations, and other city staff made six others. The code was adopted with those amendments.
“Make no mistake. This is a plan for the city of Cortez,” Council member Dennis Spruell said. “The very first meeting we had, we wanted it for the city of Cortez. … I expect other cities will use ours as one (land use code) to follow, so thank you.”
