Woodland Park planning commission advances draft PUD code rewrite, favors required concept review

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. — At a Feb. 13 work session, Woodland Park planning staff and a consultant continued a multi-month review of the city’s zoning and subdivision code and outlined a proposed rewrite of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) procedures that would centralize approval processes and make an early project “concept review” a required step.

The session focused on a draft Chapter 6 that staff say reorganizes process language now scattered across the code, consolidates administrative procedures, and changes the PUD review path from separate preliminary and final development plans into a single “general development plan” submitted with a rezoning to a PUD district. Planning staff said the rewrite is intended to clarify review steps for applicants and staff.

“Because PUDs allow that greater flexibility than traditional zoning, PUD procedures often emphasize detailed site planning more than in traditional zoning districts,” planning staff member Karen (city planning staff) told the commission as she reviewed statutory authority and the code sections that currently govern amendments and notice requirements, citing Section 18.69 and notice requirements in 18.72.060.

Staff and consultant Jen described the recommended workflow as three steps: an optional pre-application meeting (staff advised), a concept review to test a developer’s broad scheme against the comprehensive plan and code, and then a general development plan submitted with a rezoning application. Jen said the intention is to replace the existing…