Home

The planning review process for projects is about to change.

City Council President Ken Brenner and council member Paul Strong announced proposed changes during the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission work session Monday.

The council wants to give the commission more power. Brenner and Strong said that, by next year, the council hopes to hear only planned unit developments and appeals. Planned unit developments are projects that contain variances from city code; the developer must provide public benefit to make up for the variances. Developers also would be able to appeal the Planning Commission's decisions to the council.

The commission would assume the responsibility to review development permit applications and approve or deny them.

"We want to empower the Planning Commission to make more final decisions," Strong said.

The changes are spurred by the council's two retreats this year, when members agreed that their agendas were being driven more by urgent business than by important business.

"What we're suffering from is that our community is growing, and there's a lot of work," Brenner said.

The changes would not require any alterations to the city's home rule charter.

"We're interested in trying to take advantage of the charter provision," Brenner said. The council would focus on policy revisions, which would help the commission work with better guidelines, he said.

Commissioner Dick Curtis said the changes wouldn't affect how seriously he takes his decisions.

"I base my decisions like they're final decisions," Curtis said.

Commissioner Steve Lewis said the council adds a level of sophistication to applications by providing input that goes beyond the commission's suggestions. However, he approved of the changes overall.

"I think it's a good step. I'd like to see more forward thinking," Lewis said.

The changes are intuitive, Commissioner Cari Hermacinski said.

"I've wondered why the process doesn't function this way from the day I started," Hermacinski said.

Council members plan to work with the commissioners as well as city staff to shape and implement changes, which they hope to have in place by the beginning of next year.