By William J. Dagendesh
Manitou Springs City Council discussed proposed language changes to the city’s Land Use Development Code during the Oct. 25 work session.
A LUDC regulates the development and use of property in Manitou. Councilors reviewed the concepts within the proposed changes that, according to Mayor John Graham, are part of an approximately 20-year developmental process.
The city is working with consultant firm Logan Simpson to update and reorganize the city’s zoning, subdivision and sign codes into a unified LUDC. This project to update and combine the existing Title 18 (zoning code), Title 16 (subdivision code), and Chapter 15.16 (sign code) kicked off in 2020.
The meeting covered the direction of the new code in all primary topic areas such as parking requirements, short-term rentals, architectural standards, landscaping, sustainability and green-building incentives, land dedications and application procedures.
According to City Planner Hannah Van Nimwegen-McGuire, the current code is “broken,” but the proposed changes are in tune with Manitou’s future.
“I think everybody who has worked with the code would agree that there are things that have a lot of value, but aren’t implemented correctly and don’t mesh well,” she said.
“This new version takes a lot of what is good about the existing code and enhances those things, and takes ideas that people have talked about and makes them requirements. With this code, we will start to see development that better reflects what Manitou expects Manitou to be.”
Project Manager Jennifer Gardner from Logan Simpson provided an overview of the project that, from January to May 2021, included numerous outreach events.
“We had a project kick-off meeting and an internal code review where we started to understand the existing code, and pushed out questionnaires. An initial questionnaire asked the community what they thought was good or bad and needed to be fixed with the code,” Gardner said.
“We were in the middle of heavy COVID and did a virtual open house over a couple of evenings. Out of that came the assessment report. We agreed that was the path we wanted to take. We started to reorganize the code based on the report that we had proposed. We started drafting code language, and reviewed and revised what needed to be updated.”
Gardner said the project went on to encompass two open houses, six questionnaires, seven joint work sessions with City Council and the City Planning Commission, 12 advisory boards, 38 community member interviews and 300-plus questionnaire responses, and is now entering an adoption phase.
She touched on the general updates previously discussed, now combined and renamed the LUDC. Its seven chapters include general provisions, zone districts, development standards, use standards, subdivision regulation, application procedures and definitions.
Proposed changes to Chapter 1: General Provisions include a severability clause, which states the code can be reviewed separately from the rest of the municipal code. Also, non-conformity regulations and a reference to lots of record and public acquisition provision were added.
One of the proposed changes to Chapter 2: Zone Districts clarifies how to measure building height.
“Building height is a sensitive issue, so we took a long, hard look and tweaked the language on how to define that,” Gardner said.
Also, the chapter includes language change to accessory projections allowing architectural features to extend 5 feet beyond permitted building height (parapets, pipes, chimneys), and church belfries to extend up to 5 feet beyond permitted building height.
Affordable Housing is a new addition that includes a density bonus option. According to the proposed change, residential density may increase by 25 percent if 25 percent or more of the units are provided at or below a price point that would meet 100 percent of area median income.
The changes to Chapter 3: Development Standards cover new commercial site and building design standards for building orientation, height and scale, and materials.
Proposed changes to the exterior lighting portion include adding requirements for full cut-off fixtures and adding standards to regulated light levels and color. Proposed changes to landscaping guidelines include adding standards for specific areas such as streetscape and parking lots.
Also, proposed changes to alternative energy standards include adding solar infrastructure requirements, sustainable site improvement standards and incentives.
Proposed changes to Chapter 4: Use Regulations updates permitted and conditional-use allowances, new uses for group homes and recycling facilities, and temporary uses such as special events, arts/crafts fair and produce stands.
Residential-use terminology was changed to reflect what is considered permitted and conditional. Also, changes were made to the commercial zone districts to differentiate from the downtown area.
Proposed changes to Chapter 5: Subdivision Regulations include clarifying when/how improvement guarantees are used and updating land dedication requirements.
It also clarifies flag lot definition and requirements. That refers to a lot where access to the road is along the long narrow “flag pole” and the lot is rectangular.
In Chapter 6: Application Procedures, a proposed change would develop more specific variance criteria that include meeting two required criteria for all variances, and a list of seven criteria for which five criteria must be met.
Chapter 7: Definitions offers language changes that better define both temporary and permanent accessory structures.
Van Nimwegen-McGuire said no code is perfect, but that these proposals should be viewed as progress and a huge win for the city.
“Code doesn’t have to be so cemented — it can be a living document also. If we find that one of our requirements isn’t working or it was worded weird, we can change it,” Van Nimwegen-McGuire said.
“Over the next years, we’ll be doing audits of the code to make sure it’s doing what we hope it will do and that it’s being implemented correctly.”
Councilor Natalie Johnson said about 500 volunteer hours was invested in the project.
“I feel fortunate, as a community, that we have the staff and volunteers to get us to a place like we are today,” she said.
Council has about three weeks to review the proposed changes before the first reading on Nov. 15. A final draft will be published before a hearing with the City Planning Commission.
“We’re getting close for a touchdown and I look forward to seeing this go into the code in January,” Graham said.
The next council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1.