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San Miguel County stakeholders map broader housing-code revisions; further meetings planned
Summary
After the accelerated review vote, SSR members and staff moved on to a wide-ranging discussion of housing-code proposals — cottage clusters, co-housing, live-work units, ADU expansions, density bonuses and possible changes to the community housing zone — and agreed to schedule follow-ups and a focused poll to resolve technical details.
Following the vote on the accelerated housing review language, San Miguel County planning staff led SSR members through remaining proposed land-use changes intended to support workforce and community housing.
Presenters described several categories of changes staff plans to refine and return to the SSR: (1) new or clarified workforce housing types such as cottage clusters, co-housing and tiny homes in community/medium/high-density zones, with a suggestion to limit some cottage-cluster locations to within one mile of town boundaries to ensure access to water and sewer; (2) revising live-work definitions so mixed-use buildings can include deed-restricted workforce housing even when workers live off-site; and (3) expanding accessory dwelling unit (ADU) allowances to conform with state law and increase options for additional units where infrastructure allows.
Staff also discussed regulatory incentives such as a density bonus tied to deed-restricted units (examples included moving from one dwelling per seven acres to one per five acres when a project meets affordability triggers). Several members asked for quantitative examples showing how bonus ratios would affect net new affordable units versus additional market-rate units and flagged private covenants as a practical constraint on many parcels. "If we're going to be comfortable with a density bonus, we need to pair the bonus with the trigger that creates those deed-restricted units," Jen Gardner (staff) summarized.
The SSR identified several topics that require more technical detail and another meeting cycle: buffer rules for cottage clusters, objective standards for live-work versus mixed-use, precise ADU size and permitting thresholds, matrixed density allowances for parcels of different sizes, and the role of private covenants and water/wastewater capacity. Several participants recommended that staff prepare impact calculations (square footage and unit ratios) and a short survey to focus the next SSR session.
Next steps: staff plans to (a) send a focused questionnaire to SSR members, (b) present refined density-bonus triggers and numerical examples, and (c) hold at least one additional SSR meeting to narrow the choices before resubmitting recommendations to the planning commission and commissioners. Few final decisions were taken at this meeting; rather, members prioritized topics for deeper review and requested staff analyses and draft matrixes for upcoming sessions.
