Durango City Council approved on a final reading on revisions to its land use and development code, in addition to a timeline in establishing a Community Development Commission that will take over the responsibilities currently handled by three other boards.
But Durango resident Blake Fredrickson shared his concerns about the number of experienced design professionals that will be needed for the new commission during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Recommendations call for two members of the Community Development Commission to have professional design backgrounds, while the remaining five board members would not need to have any architectural, planning or design experience to serve on the board.
Fredrickson is a licensed architect and has served on the Land Use and Development Code Board of Adjustments since March 2018, as well as the Design Review Board since June 2021 and the Code Alignment Working Group since February 2020 until the board was dissolved in April.
“During the entire monthslong process starting at the beginning of this year, the Community Development staff presented during no less than six public meetings that they were advocating for three of the seven CDC members to have a professional design background,” he said. “In a last-second move, the Community Development Department switched the amount from three to two.”
Fredrickson said he’s advocated for most of the CDC members to be design professionals. He also took issue with Community Development Department Director Scott Shine’s explanation for only requiring two commission members to have backgrounds in design.
At the Nov. 21 City Council meeting, Shine said two members will be selected for their expertise and qualifications in architecture, while the other five members will be eligible for nomination as long as they live within city limits.
“We want to maintain some of that expertise, but we don’t want to weight it too much toward industry insiders or special interests or anything,” he said at the meeting. “So we didn’t choose to make that a majority.”
Fredrickson said the four other architects serving with him on the Design Review Board “have been contributing voluntarily to this community for numerous decades” and “design professionals offer valuable project-specific insight that should not be taken for granted in the creation of this new commission.”
He likened the decision to reducing the required number of medical professionals on a hospital board.
“It is not in the best interest of the health of the community,” he said.
Shine said on Friday the CDC’s original plan was to have three qualified designers join four layman residents on the commission. But after collecting feedback from the Planning Commission and community members, residents wanted fewer architecture experts on the commission.
He said the number of professionals on the CDC was a key point of consideration for staff.
“It was part of the public process to decide on that. It didn't land where Blake and some of the Design Review Board members thought it should,” he said.
The CDC is intended to have a broader scope than solely design projects, with a larger focus on big-picture growth and direction for the city, he said. And staff still bring design expertise to project discussions.
“We want representation from a variety of neighborhoods. … We don't necessarily want the people who are doing development type work every day, people who have a different lens on the community and how the community should grow and things like that,” Shine said.
Shine also said the CDC is not the only venue residents can provide feedback for design projects. The city plans to revise design guidelines and its comprehensive plan, and that is another area design experts can have a hand in shaping city policy and maintaining Durango’s “legacy of high quality.”
“We're very passionate about that. And this will in no way … undercuts that legacy,” he said.
Fredrickson said at least three of the CDC’s members should have architectural or design backgrounds, and ideally at least four of its members would.
The Planning Commission will hold its last regular meeting before transforming into the CDC in January.
City Council will interview CDC applicants and appoint members in February, followed by the CDC’s first official meeting.
cburney@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story mispelled Blake Fredrickson’s last name.
