La Plata County needs a new land use code – we’ve needed this for the last 20 years. However, let’s make sure that it’s the right code.
The city of Durango adopted a new land use and development code 10 years ago, which was created by the same group writing the county’s code. Durango’s code was adopted before it was even completely finished, and there have been significant – and I believe unintended – consequences with the adoption of this code, which has all driven home prices up and limited the ability of developers to build housing.
The city is now addressing many of these issues with the newly adopted housing plan. The city’s code sections on housing and new neighborhoods are incomprehensible, even to design professionals, and the county’s draft code has many similar provisions.
We need to make sure that the new code doesn’t stop the creation of new housing and the development of new businesses. One of the more troubling sections in the draft code is the Scenic Overlay corridor, which include all of U.S. Hwys. 160 and 550, 500 feet to each side of the center line of the highways.
Under the new code, the following businesses are not allowed in these corridors: farmers’ markets, veterinarians, greenhouses, liquor stores, auto repair shops and gas stations, to name a few.
Where are these businesses supposed to go, if not the highway corridors? Design provisions require that commercial buildings have a roof pitch between 8/12 and 12/12, one of a multitude of provisions that just don’t make any sense to an architect (like me).
Tracy Reynolds
Durango
