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Bluff mayor, planning commission align 2026 priorities and plan zoning-code overhaul
Summary
At a Feb. 19 joint session, Bluff Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission agreed to align 2026 priorities — including a zoning-code rewrite aimed at boosting housing availability, consistent enforcement of ordinances, and public-facing mapping. P&Z will finalize goals March 5 and aims to complete the code update by December.
Bluff — Bluff Mayor Josh Ewing and Planning and Zoning Chair Malia Collins convened a joint work session on Feb. 19, 2026, to align Town Council and Planning and Zoning (P&Z) priorities for the year, emphasizing a planned zoning-code overhaul, expanded public mapping and standardized enforcement.
Mayor Josh Ewing outlined council priorities that intersect with land-use work, citing diversified housing availability, public-safety improvements, road infrastructure, secondary water rights and livability projects such as trail systems. Ewing said a state program is available to help small communities create interactive maps to make zoning and road information more accessible to the public.
P&Z commissioners pushed for professional development focused on housing policy and recent state land-use legislation, and requested that mapping of roads, alleys and overlays (for example, flood plains and wildland-urban interface) be made available to both P&Z and the public. Chair Malia Collins said the commission will separate building-department–specific comments from broader zoning-code issues so that amendments affecting the town’s zoning framework undergo a robust public-comment process.
Commissioners identified enforcement consistency as a priority, proposing language changes so penalties for ordinance violations more clearly align with the severity of infractions. The commission also asked that site visits be incorporated into subdivision review procedures now that Land Use Committee (LUC) reviews are not occurring under the town’s current building-department structure.
On process and timing, commissioners set a target to complete the broader zoning-code review by December 2026 and said they will finalize their list of 2026 priorities at the P&Z meeting on March 5. Ewing, Collins and Commissioner Marcia Hadenfeldt said they intend to attend SERDA land-use training on March 2 in Monticello. Staff recorded that the legislative update on 2025 and 2026 land-use bills would be moved to the next agenda to allow adequate discussion time.
The meeting ended with no formal vote or ordinance adoption; minutes were taken by town staff Erin Nelson and the session adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
