Planners continue review of RV, renewable‑energy ordinances; flag accessibility and permitting gaps

The Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission spent significant time on Nov. 6 reviewing multiple ordinance drafts, including the RV ordinance and a renewable‑energy ordinance that would govern solar and related installations.

RV ordinance: Commissioners reviewed public comments and redline edits and identified definitional ambiguities (for example, whether volunteer or nonprofit‑hosted RV parking such as the Bears Ears partnership constitutes an RV park). Commissioners also discussed accessibility: complex tables in Table A are hard for screen readers and should be reworked or fully written out with accompanying descriptions so assistive technology users can navigate them.

Renewable‑energy ordinance and solar permitting: Commissioners and staff discussed modern topics such as agrivoltaics and the state’s allowance for portable ("balcony") solar devices. They debated the permitting workflow: staff suggested the building department should continue to screen permit applications, determine whether a site plan or conditional‑use review is required, and, if so, forward the application to planning and zoning before construction permits issue. Commissioners asked staff to create an application checklist so applicants and contractors know whether a project requires Planning & Zoning review and to work with the building department on site‑plan definitions (level 1/level 2) to reduce confusion.

No ordinance votes were taken; commissioners plan to continue drafting, address ADA table accessibility, and request the building department’s input on site‑plan thresholds prior to a December work session.