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UDC Discussion 12012020 City of Scandia – Recommended transition to UDC 1 City of Scandia Zoning & Development Code Update 12.01.2020 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers; and Members of the Planning Commission CC: Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator Evan Monson, Consulting City Planner, TKDA Chris Nelson, City Attorney FROM: Julia Paulsen Mullin, SHC Jennifer Haskamp, AICP, SHC RE: Ordinance Structure Recommendation – Transition to Unified Development Code (UDC) Introduction When this Zoning and Development Code Update (“Code”) process was initiated we discussed two options for updating the City’s Code. The two options identified within the City’s RFP were Option 1) To use the current ordinance structure and update the appropriate sections for consistency with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan; or Option 2) To restructure the Code into a more synthesized structure that is more closely aligned with a Unified Development Code (UDC). Since project initiation our Team has performed extensive background review of the current Code, engaged in discussion with your staff, compiled the results of your questionnaires and preliminarily review the results of the Community Survey administered for issue identification. Recommendation After conducting our background review, we recommend transitioning the current code to a Unified Development Code (UDC). While a decision did not need to be made during our early efforts, we are now at the point in the process that we need to identify the structure of the Code so that we can move forward with drafting. We are recommending restructuring the Code to a UDC based on several factors, a summary of a few are provided below: • The current Code is repetitive and confusing. As stated by several respondents of the questionnaires as well as the community survey, people do not use the current Code because it is difficult to understand the regulations. Because the current Code is difficult to use, regardless of City of Scandia – Recommended transition to UDC 2 the approach, significant reworking is necessary. Now is the perfect time to restructure the Code with a focus on creating a more user-friendly set of regulations and standards. • Inconsistencies within the Administration chapter, and cross-references are inaccurate making it difficult for City Staff and Policymakers to administer the Code. There is an abundance of narrative with references to outside sources such as Minnesota State Statutes and Design Guidelines. This makes it difficult to keep everything consistent and conflict free. By transitioning to a UDC information will generally be in ONE place only, making updates easier and conflicts within the Code language less likely. • Residents, business owners, and staff are unclear about what standards apply and how (and who) should administer them. The Code is text heavy without clear and easy to understand tables, charts or diagrams. As a result, it is difficult to know what standards apply, and to ensure everyone has the same understanding of the meaning. By transitioning to a UDC, we will be able to group similar districts and standards together and create a uniform set of graphic diagrams and standards to make it easier to understand. (See Example) Based on these findings, we are confident that transitioning the City Code to a UDC will achieve several objectives, many of which were identified in the RFP. Some of the core objectives and principles driving the development or our UDC outline include: 1. Use of plain, clear language that makes the Code more accessible to the user. The UDC approach and structure will clean up and remove much of the legal ease and put the important stuff up front (i.e. tell the resident what the need to know right up front). 2. The UDC will remove repetition so that the Code is concise and easier to navigate – you will only need to look in one location instead of a back-and-for the review. (e.g. the subdivision “chapter” will be embedded into the appropriate section such as the Building Envelope Standards). 3. Ensure the contents of the existing Code are transferred to the update Code, unless omitted intentionally. We will map your current ordinance to the new structure so that the policy intent is codified in the new structure. Any policy-level discussion will still take place once we have the new structure drafted. 4. The UDC will incorporate visual diagrams and representations whenever possible to demonstrate the zoning standards and reduce narrative clutter. These graphics will become the “cheat sheet” for policymakers, staff, residents and stakeholders providing clear direction on development standards. An entire section will be dedicated to this concept. (See Building Envelope Standards example) 5. Organize the Administration section so that the processes are easy to understand. This section will be moved back in the order, so that the Zoning District and Building Envelope Standards are more readily accessible to the user. 6. Organize information graphically using tables and other diagrams. For example, the City’s Table of Uses handout should replace the laundry lists of uses by districts making it easier to cross reference and compare the uses by district. 7. The UDC will create opportunities to codify sections of the Design Guidelines, making it easier to understand when design standards are required versus when they are guidelines and/or suggested. City of Scandia – Recommended transition to UDC 3 Next Steps If there is general agreement to transition the Code to a UDC, we will begin the outline and drafting process. A few items to note: • We will bring forward and present an Outline of the new UDC with the general concepts and “mapped” existing Scandia Code section for your review and information at an upcoming meeting. • We will incorporate placeholders into sections that are yet to be discussed. For example, the ongoing density discussion in the Village Center will dictate how the standards within the corresponding districts should be developed. Once a formal decision and approach is made for the Village Center districts this section will be updated. Requested Discussion We are seeking your input and feedback regarding the recommended approach to restructure the existing Code to a Unified Development Code.