Santa Fe adopts Phase 1 rewrite of Land Development Code with amendments to historic and archaeology provisions

Santa Fe's governing body approved a Phase 1 overhaul of the city's Land Development Code on the evening of the special meeting, adopting a package that staff says reorganizes and clarifies decades of piecemeal amendments while adding new affordability and development incentives. The ordinance repeals and replaces Chapter 14 of the Santa Fe City Code and passed after the council approved four named amendments.

The rewrite rewrites organization and definitions across the code, creates a parks and open-space zoning district, expands use tables to include new uses such as film production and doggy day care, updates parking rules (including removal of some downtown minimums), adds electric-vehicle and bicycle-parking requirements, and adjusts some height and density allowances for non-historic residential and nonresidential development. Staff told the council Phase 1 focuses on clarity and user-friendliness; Phases 2 and 3 will take up more substantive items such as street design and zoning cleanup.

Director Heather Lamboy and consultant Matt Goble summarized the effort as the culmination of more than two years of outreach, including virtual and…