Land Use Committee comments on proposed code update (PZ-19-0597)

A previous post indicated that the Planning Commission and City Council will be holding hearings on proposed amendments to city code. (See post on this web page from 9/6/19.) 

Code updates like these represent the most critical point in the land use process for the community to provide input. Once the code is changed, future projects will be subject to the new guidelines — for better or worse. Often, the public complains about a project, when all of the standards incorporated in the proposal are, in fact, in the code. So, this is the time to pay attention and speak up if something doesn’t seem right.

The general purpose of the proposed code amendments is to allow for more housing opportunities consistent with City policy. Some of the changes are driven by state legislation — for example, ADUs now don't have to provide new off street parking. 

Other changes are more substantive — for example, some allow more neighborhood commercial uses, especially in areas zoned for multifamily residential housing.

Another change will provide for development of Shared-Court Housing — a type of housing not currently mentioned in the code. Additional changes are intended to promote Cottage Housing. These changes are mostly relevant to RH and RM zones, and Summit West only has one such area, at the southeast corner of the Mt. Washington & Shevlin roundabout.

A proposed change that might affect the Summit West neighborhood will allow manufactured homes to be used for ADUs, with certain design and foundation requirements. If you don’t live in an HOA or your CC&Rs allow ADUs, you might want to look at that proposal.

On the whole, these changes are far more significant for other NAs than for Summit West, as they have higher-density residential zones, with the code encouraging more mixed uses in areas that historically had them.

The previous post includes the code update package and a staff report on the changes, if you want to dig deeper into any of these topics. The first hearing on the package of updates will be Sept. 23rd before the Planning Commission.