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Planning staff warn implementation of comprehensive plan will dominate next 12–18 months; UDC rewrite likely
Summary
Planning staff told council that adopting the comprehensive plan is only the start and that converting plan recommendations into implementable zoning (a UDC rewrite or new zoning ordinance) will be the department's largest near‑term effort. Staff signaled they may request contract funds for the rewrite before the FY26 budget is adopted.
Derek Delacorte, speaking for the planning department, told council March 24 that implementing the city’s comprehensive plan will be the department’s primary work for the next 12–18 months and likely require additional budget and consultant resources.
Delacorte said drafting the plan itself was easier than the work ahead: converting plan recommendations into zoning districts, potentially rezoning properties and creating the rules that will govern future development. He said staff have discussed running the UDC (Unified Development Code) rewrite concurrently with plan adoption to reduce the learning curve for contractors and accelerate implementation, but that doing two dependent processes at once could be confusing.
“The rewrite from a financial standpoint, we did not put money in the budget 04/26 for it,” Delacorte said, but he added the planning team may return before budget adoption with a proposal and contract to begin UDC implementation so consultants can start earlier.
Delacorte described several staffing and operational requests tied to implementation and customer service: a site plan coordinator or compliance officer to help project applicants navigate cross‑departmental requirements; moving an existing zoning coordinator from part‑time to full‑time for succession and responsiveness; and rental inspectors to increase inspection coverage of roughly 30,000 rental units. He said the department can now inspect about 3,000–5,000 rental units per year and would like to reach every unit on a three‑year cycle but needs additional inspector capacity and a fee structure that supports those positions.
Delacorte also said parks staffing and fee adjustments were included to cover operations, and that some implementation work could be paid through other funds or fee revenues rather than the general fund.
He concluded that the planning department will return with more specific proposals and financial requests and that the city may recommend building a new zoning ordinance from scratch rather than retrofitting the existing UDC.
Delacorte answered council questions on short‑term rental enforcement, inspectors and the timing of any consultant contract for the UDC rewrite.
