San Juan County schedules Jan. 21 public hearing on updated zoning ordinance

San Juan County will hold a public hearing at 11 a.m. Jan. 21 to consider adopting a revised county zoning ordinance that replaces the 2011 rules, Planning Administrator Kristen Bushnell said.

The draft ordinance, prepared by county staff with outside consultant review and a legal review for compliance with Utah state land-use laws, was finalized at the end of November and adopted by the Planning Commission on Thursday, Jan. 9, Bushnell said. The county commission’s hearing will determine whether the commission approves the ordinance for countywide use.

Bushnell, the county’s planning administrator, said staff spent four months drafting the ordinance with input from each department and an outside planning consultant. "This past summer, we hosted 3 community workshops, an online form, and published draft documents online to collect feedback from each community area," she said. She told residents the drafts were updated with community comments and then reviewed by a legal expert "to ensure that we were compliant with Utah State laws that govern county land use."

County staff republished the revised documents after legal review and kept them available for public comment up to the Planning Commission adoption on Jan. 9, Bushnell said. She said the documents were "finalized at the end of November and republished for feedback up to the adoption date by the Planning Commission on Thursday, January 9th."

Bushnell outlined how property owners and other stakeholders can review and comment on the proposal. She said the final documents are posted on the county website under the department tab and that printed copies are available at the planning office. "If you have a request, that must be submitted in writing to my email or in person at our office," she said. She added that those written requests will be compiled for county commissioners to review before the Jan. 21 discussion.

The ordinance package includes zoning maps and a use table that shows allowable uses by zoning category. Bushnell cautioned that "the use table mostly refers to a commercial application and is not applicable to personal or home based businesses unless specifically noted." She also identified a separate Land Use, Development, and Management document within the package that outlines guidelines for cement, subdividing land, large-scale development, conditional use permits and the process for decisions by the Planning Commission.

Bushnell emphasized that it is not too late to request changes: "It is not too late to make requests for changes," she said, and reiterated the Jan. 21 public hearing date and 11 a.m. start time. The hearing is the county commission’s next step toward final adoption; the commission may adopt, modify, or decline to adopt the ordinance following the public hearing.

Documents referenced by Bushnell describe the earlier 2011 zoning ordinance and the proposed replacement; the transcript did not include details on specific zoning-map changes, vote tallies from the Planning Commission, or the text of any motions made at the Jan. 9 meeting. Those details were not specified in the remarks provided.