Planning commission forwards Title 21 zoning amendments to council, tables bulk-storage requirement

The City of Grand Junction Planning Commission on May 27 forwarded a set of text amendments to Title 21 of the Zoning and Development Code to City Council and asked staff to return later with further work on bulk-storage requirements. The package addresses transitional provisions, public-notice tables, use-specific standards for mini-warehouses, short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to comply with state law, bicycle parking, public right-of-way landscaping, and related procedural and design clarifications. The commission voted 6-0 to forward the ordinance with specified edits and to table the bulk-storage provision for further review.

Nikki Gillhouse, planning manager, presented the ordinance and said some changes correct inconsistencies introduced in the 2023 code update and others respond to a new state law. “We are amending this, to be a building or portion thereof that provides complete independent living facilities for 1 or more individuals,” Gillhouse said when describing a change to the dwelling-unit definition to align with state definitions and noted the amendments include measures to comply with House Bill 24-1152 regarding ADUs.

Key ADU changes described in the staff presentation include: allowing ADUs to use the principal-structure side setbacks where state law requires it; removing the local requirement for an off-street parking space because the state’s prescriptive conditions make local parking requirements impractical in most cases; and converting subjective “complementary” design language to an objective test requiring an ADU to match at least two of three features of the principal structure (color, material, roof pitch) if the commission or council maintains a design standard. Gillhouse said the code also will prevent outline development plans or planned developments from enforcing provisions that are more restrictive than the newly adopted ADU standards, consistent with state law.

Other amendments the commission approved to forward include clarifications that mini-warehouse (self-storage) standards should permit certain pavement and surface treatments consistent with temporary-parking provisions; an exception so warehouses do not have bicycle-parking requirements for floor area used solely for storage; revisions to bicycle-rack dimension and clearance language to avoid conflicts with minimum sidewalk widths; and a change to allow applicants—not the city—to elect whether right-of-way landscaping counts toward on-site landscaping requirements (changing a “shall” to a discretionary “may”).

Commissioners raised questions about ADU design controls, affordability and how the objective design test might interact with modular and prefabricated ADU construction. Several commissioners expressed concern that requiring design conformity could increase costs and discourage affordable ADU construction; others noted existing downtown and historic-district design protections remain in place. On the bicycle-parking language, staff revised the draft to state bicycle parking must not reduce the minimum sidewalk width and to “account for the length or width of a standard bicycle” to offer flexibility for rack orientation.

On bulk storage (storage for bikes, skis and similar), commissioners requested more clarity on whether the code should require minimum square footage or allow developers to satisfy the requirement within unit plans (for example, a dedicated storage closet inside a dwelling), and the commission voted to table that portion of the ordinance for further work.

After discussion and on-the-record amendments described by staff—striking subjective ADU language, clarifying bicycle parking clearances, adjusting minimum-access references and making other technical edits—the commission moved to forward the package to City Council with the staff findings and to table the bulk-storage standard. The motion passed 6-0.