Planner urges clearer comprehensive‑plan citations for 'clustering' term in UDC update

Planning staff reviewed suggested edits to the city's Unified Development Code (UDC) and recommended adding targeted references to the comprehensive plan to clarify the newly drafted definition of "clustering." The presenter said the draft language on page 16, subsection 6.a, proposes that "development within each hamlet or village district must be clustered as specified in this subsection to promote walking, minimize the fragmentation of open space, and support the comprehensive plan."

Staff said it is common practice to reference specific sections of the comprehensive plan when adopting regulatory code and offered to add two representative citations that explain the design rationale, including compact/ traditional and nodal development principles. "When you bring up a term like clustering, go ahead and provide two of those citations," the staff member said, arguing the cross‑references will help interpret the regulatory language.

Council members pressed staff for detail on numerical choices in the UDC. Staff explained the hamlet size proposal — a 250‑acre cap — is tied to a 10‑minute (0.25 mile) walk shed intended to preserve roughly 70% open space; the presenter said that calculation and the walk‑shed rationale informed the recommended maximum. One council member asked whether the 250 number was derived from the comp plan's studies and whether the proposed commercial caps (a suggested move from 5% down to 2% in some places) reflected realistic on‑the‑ground conditions.

The planner offered to prepare a short primer explaining how the comprehensive plan and regulatory text interact and to insert clearer citations into the amendment. The council agreed staff should supply written revisions and supporting references before the UDC amendment goes to a first reading, and members were invited to propose alternate numeric amendments prior to the vote.