Caldwell staff previews sweeping zoning rewrite in Amendment Package 2, no votes taken at workshop

City of Caldwell Community Development staff presented Amendment Package 2 of a multi-part zoning-code update at a Planning & Zoning Commission workshop on Feb. 26, 2025, walking commissioners through a reorganization of Chapter 10 and related changes intended to align the municipal zoning code with the newly adopted comprehensive plan.

The package is primarily a reformatting and consolidation exercise, staff said, moving district purpose statements and dimensional tables into dedicated articles for residential, commercial and industrial districts and creating a new Article 12 for specific-use provisions. Robin Collins, community development director, said the changes are intended to reduce internal code contradictions, capture longstanding administrative policy in the code text and address gaps the city faces when new land uses appear.

Collins and Joe Dodson, senior planner, told commissioners the packet contains substantial edits across many topics: how split zoning is handled, clarified definitions, consolidated use categories for retail and restaurants, expanded design-review processes, new parking and landscaping rules, changes to where and how multifamily housing is regulated, and a proposed…