Committee discusses broad UDO changes to speed housing approvals, expand district options

City staff presented a package of proposed Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and zoning-process changes Sept. 10 intended to reduce review times for smaller residential projects, expand allowable housing types in certain districts and generally streamline procedures for developers and homeowners.

Miss Nassif of Development Services summarized the list of potential changes developed after the committee’s June meeting. "There's no magic bullet where we do 1 thing and then everything changes," she said, adding staff sees a set of coordinated process and zoning options intended to reduce delays for homeowners and homebuilders and to keep the city competitive in the metro market. Staff asked the committee for direction on which items to research further and whether to return proposed ordinance or code language for council consideration.

Key staff recommendations and discussion points

- Administrative review of minor modifications: Staff proposed expanding the set of minor modifications that can be approved administratively rather than going through the longer governing-body review. Miss Nassif said the current timeline for modifications can be three to four months; shifting eligible items to staff review could shorten that to roughly 7–10 days. She cited setbacks, materials, parking and landscaping items as examples for potential administrative handling.

- Increased residential setback flexibility for…