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County proposes Live Local Act zoning update; staff says planned developments will be evaluated case‑by‑case
Summary
A draft LDC amendment would align county zoning for Live Local Act projects with the state statute and allow additional districts deemed eligible by state law to qualify; staff emphasized planned developments will not be automatically eligible and said applications would be reviewed for permitted uses and entitlements.
County Development Services presented a draft amendment (LDC 25.12.25) updating the county's standards for projects qualifying under the Live Local Act, a state law, and said the amendment would expand eligible zoning districts to include any district the state statute deems eligible.
"This amendment will modify the Live Local Act requirements and standards for projects to qualify under the Live Local Act in our county, specifically updating the zoning requirements," a Development Services staff member said. Staff listed existing qualifying zones in the draft — Business Professional Office (BPO), Office Residential (OR), Commercial Neighborhood (CN), Commercial General (CG), Commercial Intensive (CI), and Manufacturing (M) — and said the amendment would allow "any other zoning district that is deemed eligible by the Live Local Act statute" to qualify, including certain parts of planned-development (PD) districts.
Resident Nancy expressed concern that some planned developments approved decades ago contain language or permitted uses that do not include retail or other commercial activities, and she said developers had recently claimed PD parcels were a "slam dunk" for Live Local Act approvals. "When I go in and I actually read the subsection ... it doesn't seem to include the commercial neighborhood. And it specifically says if there's no retail involved, you wouldn't be included," she said.
The staff member responded that the state statute contains definitions for commercial, industrial and mixed uses and that the county would evaluate planned developments on a case‑by‑case basis. "...it's not a blank blanket approval for any parcel that is just some PD," the staff member said. "If it meets that criteria, then it will be eligible. But just because it is on PD, doesn't make it automatically eligible."
Staff also said reviewers will check entitlements and whether a PD explicitly permits the commercial or mixed uses required by the Live Local Act definition. The presentation noted the state change took effect July 1 and that the draft amendment is at an early stage; staff encouraged public comment at the Oct. 16 hearing. No formal action occurred at the outreach meeting; the item will go before the Planning Commission on Oct. 13 for a consistency finding and before the Board of County Commissioners for public hearings Oct. 16 and Nov. 13.
