Scofield Council holds brief public hearing on Chapter 6 subdivision update, then adjourns

On Dec. 9, 2024, the Scofield Town Council opened a public hearing to consider updating and amending Chapter 6 of the town code, which governs subdivisions, to comply with state requirements.

Council members present included Jim Laveinger, Brad Peacock and Melissa Hathaway, the council chair announced during roll call. The presiding speaker said the meeting began at 6:45 p.m. and described the hearing as a chance to adopt a state-mandated, standardized format for local subdivision ordinances so developers would know what will be expected.

Supporters of the update told the council the model ordinance was prepared by an engineering firm contracted through the state and that engineers had tried to incorporate as much of Scofield’s existing code as possible while adding any necessary changes. "They did it, and they incorporated our code as much as they could into it and then added what was necessary changes," one speaker said.

Speakers emphasized keeping the local implementation simple. One participant said the goal was to avoid imposing a heavy paperwork burden on the town’s limited staff and to streamline review periods where possible. Another observed that larger cities may build more detailed review procedures into their codes, but that even they are constrained by the state template.

With no public comments offered during the hearing, a motion was made to adjourn the land-use public hearing on the ordinance amending and updating Section 6. "I make a motion that we adjourn the, land use ordinance 12 1 20 24, amending and updating section 6 of subdivisions," the mover said. The motion was seconded and two "Aye" votes were recorded; specific attributions for those votes were not provided on the record. The meeting time was then announced as 6:51 p.m.

Next steps were not specified on the record; the council indicated it will await the next meeting for further action on adopting the updated ordinance.