The City of Gunnison’s newly-drafted land development code (LDC) has reached another stumbling block in a process already eight months behind schedule.
In spring of 2024, the city began rewriting its LDC for the first time in nearly a decade. On Oct. 29, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted against recommending that it be adopted by city council. After nearly 12-hours reviewing the proposed code, the commission concluded in a letter to council that the revised draft “was rushed with steps omitted in the process.”
On Nov. 4, city council welcomed community input and resumed deliberations over the proposed LDC. After identifying potential changes, council paused the discussion and scheduled an upcoming special session to address further questions and present recommendations.
“We’re recommending to them what they should do, and they’re going to make a decision regardless,” said commission member Geoffrey Oros at the Oct. 29 meeting. “So what’s the point of spending all this time asking for changes if we’re just going to say, ‘Go ahead and approve it?’ We’re on a precipice here — approve with recommendations or deny it as is. Denying it sends a statement that this isn’t what we want. It needs major revision.”
The City of Gunnison’s LDC outlines regulations and standards for how land can be developed within city limits. The update to the LDC addresses three priorities, based on the city’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan — expanding housing opportunities, encouraging economic vitality and modernizing and simplifying standards.
The proposed LDC reorganized the city’s zoning districts and introduced minimum and maximum densities in specific districts to broaden housing options. Additionally, the code updated standards for building height, housing types, landscaping and design. But a central theme in the proposed LDC is infill development. The code would reduce parking requirements and allow accessory dwelling units (ADU), a small living space that sits on the same lot as a single-family home, in all zones. These factors would likely increase density and encourage affordable housing projects throughout the city.
The update to the LDC and zoning map began in March 2024, with a proposed adoption date set for April 2025. In that time, the city collected community input, including focus group meetings, open houses, work sessions and public comment opportunities. However, the commission said the process rushed from concept discussion to a “first and final draft” and left little time to educate the public on the proposed code.
In its recommendation letter to council, the commission listed over 50 amendments to the draft. The changes included strengthening off-street parking instead of reducing it, deleting the proposed building design standards and cutting the maximum floor area of ADUs from 1,200 to 720 square feet. The majority of the alterations centered around density and parking concerns, and the community expressed similar fears at the council meeting on Nov. 4.
“Before the city council develops these changes to land development and the zoning map, I think we need to know the impacts of these changes,” said community member Dave Kozlowski during public comment on Nov. 4. “[We need to know] how much more traffic, infrastructure and the impact to essential services. We live in an isolated place and this doubling of our population [could] put us over our carrying capacity. The city is performing a truck traffic study and the council should delay any adaptation of these changes until the traffic study is complete and understood.”
Local business owner Ben Diem also expressed that uncertainty around the code changes has discouraged potential tenants from renting retail space.
“I own a large commercial building downtown most of you might know as the Miller furniture store,” Diem said. “I’ve already made a huge investment in that property — but these code changes are frightening my tenants away. It seems like all of this stuff is happening too fast — can we slow this whole process?”
City council concluded the meeting by highlighting areas in need of further discussion and making recommendations directly to staff. After nearly three hours of deliberation, the council agreed to address other agenda items and return to the LDC during an upcoming special session. A date for the special session has not yet been determined.
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or amccrindle@orourkemediagroup.com.)
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