Pitkin County planning commission backs modest code changes to ease seasonal farmworker housing

The Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of a text amendment to the county land-use code to expand allowances for seasonal farmworker housing, commissioners said during a regularly scheduled meeting.

The amendment would keep the provision's temporary-use framing but would allow two changes: permit holders could keep a seasonal housing unit on-site during the off-season if the unit is shut down rather than moved off-site, and an operator who demonstrates a year-round agricultural operation could apply for a second permit to cover the three months currently excluded from the seasonal permit. Existing safeguards in the code would remain in place, including a minimum-site-size requirement, NFPA fire-standards for recreational vehicles, and a requirement that units be…