Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs City Council will consider a measure tonight that would allow developers to get in line as they wait out a 90-day moratorium on new petitions for major development permits at City Hall.
City Council voted 6-0 on July 18 to pass an emergency ordinance that suspended the process for major development permit applications. The moratorium will be in effect until Oct. 18. But if City Council agrees this week, developers will have a chance to establish their priority number for when the planning staff begins processing those applications once again.
"The proposed process for the priority list would only require that a developer submit a request for a major development permit," Planning Director Wendie Schulenburg said Monday. "They would need to submit a letter stating what the application will be. This will help us to determine whether indeed, it is a major development permit, or perhaps a regular development permit that would not be subject to the moratorium. The applicants will be assigned and processed based on their location on the priority list."
Schulenburg added that developers will need to be prepared to act within a week, once the moratorium is lifted.
An applicant would lose his or her place on the priority list if he or she did not submit an application within seven calendar days of the end of the moratorium, Schulenburg said. Developers also could stand to lose their place in line if they submit an application within the seven days, but a comparison with the existing submittal checklist reveals it is incomplete.
Schulenburg stressed that it will be up to City Council to decide whether or not to amend the emergency ordinance to create the waiting list.
Schulenburg also is recommending that major development permits that would provide significant opportunities for affordable housing be exempted from the moratorium. Specifically, the amended ordinance would exempt applications for "multi-family or single-family projects where at least 50 percent of the units will be set aside for individuals or families with an income equal to or less than 120 percent of the median income for Routt County," and who pay no more than 30 percent of their monthly income as a rental or mortgage payment.
Finally, planning staff is recommending that City Council allow it to continue processing conceptual and preapplication submittals, because they are less time consuming that major development permit applications. That would mean that developers contemplating large projects could still go through the less formal process of getting feedback from city government on how well their tentative projects meet the city development code.

To reach Tom Ross call 871-4210, or e-mail tomross@amigo.net