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Prosecutor reports progress on UDC code cleanup; staff planning beta testing before planning commission review
Summary
The county prosecuting attorney updated council on a code cleanup project that will reorganize land use regulations by incorporating remaining Title 16 provisions into the Unified Development Code (Title 18), add a consolidated chapter on density and dimensions, and run a beta test with planners; the consultant contract is about half spent.
San Juan County’s prosecuting attorney, Amy Vera, told the County Council on June 9 that a consultant‑led code cleanup and reorganization is about halfway through its contracted budget and that staff will run a beta‑testing phase with planners before taking draft ordinances to the planning commission.
Vera said the project focuses on the Unified Development Code (UDC, Title 18) and on consolidating scattered rules. As part of the cleanup, the county proposes to incorporate remaining land‑use language from Title 16 into Title 18 and to create a new chapter that consolidates rules on density and dimensions so measurements and standards are consistent in one place rather than repeated across the code.
Vera emphasized the project’s intent: "This version of the cleanup and reorganizing is not intended to have significant substantive changes," she said, but acknowledged that consolidating and eliminating inconsistent definitions or multiple measurement methods will have some substantive effects and will be called out explicitly in later drafts. Vera described a planned beta‑testing phase in which planning staff will apply the draft code to sample cases to find unintended consequences and fix implementation issues before the planning commission and public hearings.
Councilors asked about timing and about recent state law changes that affect growth‑management and subdivision processes. Vera said the consultant has made substantial progress and that the draft ordnances will go through the planning commission and return to council; deeper substantive policy changes (for example, housing density or other policy priorities) would be a separate subsequent work plan item in 2026.
The council did not adopt any ordinance at the June 9 meeting. Vera said staff will prioritize clear communication about substantive changes and will prepare specific summaries of areas that are changing so the public and affected stakeholders can review changes without wading through entire code chapters.
