Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Billboards Text Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Laramie planners to brief City Council April 22 on denied billboard text amendment
Summary
City planning staff scheduled a joint work session with the City Council for April 22 to review the Planning Commission's recent recommendation to deny a billboard text amendment; commissioners said they fear changing code for a single applicant and noted a separate variance appeal is pending in district court.
The Laramie Planning Commission will join the City Council for a work session at 6 p.m. April 22 to discuss the commission's recommendation to deny a proposed text amendment related to digital billboards, planning staff said.
The work session will allow the council, the commission and the applicant to discuss the reasons for the denial; no formal action will be taken at the session, Philip, planning staff, said. "No action will be taken, of course, it's just to for city council to understand better where you guys are coming from," Philip said.
Commissioners who voted to recommend denial reiterated their concern that the proposed text amendment was written primarily to benefit a single company and that changing the code for one applicant could be inappropriate. "The text amendment was an approach to, to legislate, essentially, make policy changes to the code based on the interests of one particular party," Commissioner Sharon said, adding she believed the approach could be "vulnerable" in terms of lawfulness. Several commissioners said the commission had created a detailed record supporting its denial and that the work session would help relay that reasoning to council.
Commissioners also differentiated the two related matters: the Planning Commission's text-amendment recommendation is advisory to the City Council, while a separate variance tied to the same applicant is a decision made by the Board of Adjustment and has been appealed to the district court. Philip confirmed the applicant has filed suit only with respect to the variance decision, not the text amendment.
Some commissioners urged clarity from City Council about the work session's format. "If they're gonna be presenting additional information, then it almost seems inappropriate... It's not a work session any longer if it's a three-party situation like that," one commissioner said, asking council to specify its intent.
City staff said they would meet with the city manager to frame the session and would update the commission at its next meeting. Commissioners who cannot attend said they would consider submitting written comments for the council to review.
Why it matters: A citywide code change could alter how existing, grandfathered billboards are regulated in Laramie; commissioners said such changes are appropriate for elected officials to weigh given broader policy implications.
