Woodland Park planning commission previews draft Unified Development Code, sets review deadlines

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. — Woodland Park planning staff and their consultant on Thursday walked the Planning Commission through a near-final draft of a Unified Development Code, asking commissioners to focus on substantive edits and to log comments in the Conveio review platform ahead of a July 10 work session.

The draft, which staff said they will deliver to commissioners as seven searchable PDF chapters, reorganizes and consolidates the city’s land-use rules into a single UDC intended to replace multiple existing titles. Staff described the document as a “work product for review” that will go to the city attorney for legal review before any public unveiling and formal adoption process that starts with a Planning Commission public hearing and moves to City Council for final approval.

Why it matters: The UDC would centralize procedures and standards now scattered across multiple chapters, change how some uses and parking requirements are presented, and clarify subdivision and parkland-dedication rules that staff described as historically confusing. Because the code governs zoning, permitted uses, development standards, subdivision requirements and administrative procedures, the rewrite affects developers, property owners and neighborhood expectations about land use in Woodland Park.

What staff proposed and commissioners discussed — most important points first:

- Structure and process: Staff and consultant Jennifer Gardner said the draft contains seven chapters (general provisions; zone districts; development standards; use standards; subdivision standards; administration; and definitions) and that they plan…