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    Amendments to Lander’s zoning code pass; final reading tabled

    The third and final reading of Ordinance 1236 – Amending Title 4 – Zoning of the City Code Book by the Lander City Council was tabled until October 13th following additional amendments passed on September 8th. The tabling passed with a vote of 6-1.

    Amendments to the Ordinance submitted by Councilmembers following their work session last week passed with a vote of 4-3. Essentially, the amendments strike everything (ADUs, Cottage Clusters, etc…) except lot sizes. A detailed list of changes can be found by clicking here.

    It has been a clear consensus from community members and was reaffirmed by a few Councilmembers last night, that the main Ordinance objection is doing too much too fast.

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    While having a more unified plan, better explanations of the changes, and overall slowing the process, the Council is faced with a time constraint – the 2020 election. With the change in Councilmembers at the end of the year, if final decisions around the Ordinance are not made in the next few months, this process would have to restart under the new Council.

    This Ordinance along with community feedback has prompted discussions around having a Code Enforcement Officer. “We have unenforced codes on our books and it has decreased our credibility,” said Councilmember Cade Maestas last night.

    This person would be responsible for keeping Lander housing in compliance and enforcing the policies. Concerns were raised by Lander Mayor Monte Richardson during this discussion last night about those currently living in substandard housing, but don’t have any other options. “Where will they go?”

    While no action was taken during last night’s preliminary discussions about this new role, there was agreement among the Council to find a way to code compliance.

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    The latest County 10 coverage of this process can be found here.

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