Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Udo Small Lots topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City updates timeline for small-lot, compact housing UDO amendments; staff seeks October policy discussion
Summary
Planning staff updated the committee on work to expand small-lot and compact housing options (single-family, duplexes, townhomes), said code drafting will begin this fall and targeted council adoption could proceed early next year after policy direction in October.
Aurora planning staff provided an update Sept. 10 on a Unified Development Ordinance project to expand and clarify rules for small-lot and compact single-family housing types.
"This is a project focused around single family products and their configurations, single family detached, duplexes, townhomes," said Brandon Cammarata, manager for the city's current planning division and project manager for the small lots compact housing project. Staff framed the effort as an update and code audit intended to increase flexibility and predictability while retaining livability standards such as access to parks and adequate street networks.
Cammarata said engagement to date includes listening sessions with developers, council, planning commission and management, and development roundtables begun last year. He said staff is "on schedule" and hopes to bring more in-depth policy discussions to the committee in October and to a council study session soon after.
Staff described three focus categories for potential code directions: greenfield (primarily east Aurora / E-470 corridor), infill (subareas A and B, near the I-225 corridor) and design standards that could apply across both contexts (materials, architecture, on-site parking/garage placement). Cammarata said drafting is planned over the fall and winter, with the adoption process continuing through public hearings and council readings; staff anticipates adoption activities into early next year with effective dates to be set after final readings.
Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about timing and effective dates. Cammarata explained that, for ordinances, the effective date typically follows the second-reading adoption and that staff expects to ask for policy direction in October to move into code drafting. "We're hoping in October, starting in October PED, hoping for an October potential council study session to start having more in-depth conversations," he said.
The committee received the update as informational; no formal action was requested. Ending
Staff will continue engagement, prepare policy-level options for October discussions, and begin drafting ordinance language after council direction.
