Dubuque Council Holds Work Session on Unified Development Code Update; Staff to Draft Ordinance for Public Review

The Dubuque City Council held a work session Wednesday focused on a technical review of a proposed Unified Development Code (UDC) update, and staff said the next step is drafting an ordinance for public review and open houses. Planning Services Director Wally Wernemont introduced consultant Arista Strunges of Camaros, who reviewed findings from a technical report, two surveys (about 250 resident responses and a technical group survey of professionals), stakeholder interviews and a public meeting. "I've been doing this for over 25 years," Strunges said, noting Dubuque's unusually high survey response rate for an online planning process. Wernemont said staff will take the consultant’s recommendations and draft ordinance language for internal review, followed by public open houses and additional public comment periods. He estimated the drafting and public‑engagement steps would take the next three to four months under the current contract, and he said public input will continue through the formal adoption process. Major proposals in the technical review include reorganizing use rules into a single global use matrix, simplifying and renaming residential districts (proposed RN1–RN5), consolidating some commercial districts into clearer scales (neighborhood, mixed‑use, general commercial and central business district), and creating an industrial mixed‑use overlay for adaptive reuse. The consultant recommended keeping specialized overlays such as flood hazard and restricted height but moving long flood rules to a separate…