Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Code Amendments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning Commission forwards Title 21 amendments on multifamily and attached housing to city council
Summary
Commissioners voted 6-0 to forward zoning text amendments that revert the multifamily definition toward the 2010 code and restore single‑family attached dwellings as an allowed use in several higher-density districts; staff cited state HOME Act constraints as a limiting factor in local household-size regulation.
The City of Grand Junction Planning Commission on Feb. 11 voted 6-0 to forward proposed amendments to Title 21 of the Grand Junction Municipal Code to city council.
Staff recommended the zoning text amendments (file ZCA-2024-701) to revise definitions and design standards for multifamily and residential-attached housing. Planning manager Nikki Gillhouse told commissioners the changes revert to the 2010 definition of "multifamily" (with a minor wording tweak) and clarify that multifamily design standards should not apply to sites composed of multiple single‑dwelling structures. The amendments also restore "single-family attached dwelling" as an allowed principal use in several higher-density districts (RH-16, RH-24 and MU-2 and MU-3), where implementation experience showed the earlier change created unintended limits on housing types.
Gillhouse said the city must work within the constraints of the state HOME Act, which preempts local regulation of household size, and that staff made the current edits as an interim fix while pursuing longer-term refinements. "We anticipated that there would be necessary revisions to the practical issues of implementation," Gillhouse said during the presentation.
Staff concluded the proposed text amendments meet applicable review criteria in section 21.02.050.D of the zoning and development code, citing consistency with comprehensive‑plan principles that encourage infill, housing choice and use of existing infrastructure.
There were no public speakers on the item during the hearing. Commissioners who spoke during deliberation said the changes are consistent with earlier workshops and implementation experience and raised no objections. A motion to forward a recommendation of approval to city council, with the findings in the staff report, passed unanimously.
The forwarded ordinance would change definitions and some design‑standard applications in Title 21; if city council approves the ordinance the amendments would take effect according to the schedule in the adopted ordinance and the municipal code.
