County Planning Manager Bryce Ternet
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
From the time that Los Alamos County was incorporated in 1969, its code has remained pretty much unchanged. Until now.
County staff along with consultants Dekker/Perich/Sabatini (D/P/S) and members of the public are working on updating Chapter 16 of the County Code. This chapter addresses development. The proposed draft revisions for the first phase of the revision project, known as module 1, are circulating to the various County decision makers.
The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the draft revisions Wednesday night, which will be reviewed Oct. 5 by the Los Alamos County Council.
A major change being presented in module 1 is to consolidate or remove various zones in the code.
“The goal is to narrow down our zoning districts,” Planning Manager Bryce Ternet said. “It makes interpretation of our zoning districts easier.”
He pointed out that the County has 39 districts. As a comparison, he said that most municipalities of similar size to Los Alamos have around 20, at most. Ternet added that the module 1 draft proposes narrowing the zoning districts to 26.
Some zoning districts are just not needed. For instance, Ternet said the code identifies two types of zones for industrial use – heavy and light. Since Los Alamos doesn’t have many industrial zoning districts to begin with, two zones are not necessary. As a result, the proposal is to consolidate the two zones and identify one zone as industrial, he said.
Ternet also said that downtown Los Alamos has four zone districts and the update proposes consolidating them into one Downtown Los Alamos district. Additionally, the update proposes an entirely new downtown district for White Rock, called the White Rock Town Center district.
Another change to Chapter 16 is identifying and defining specific uses for the zoning districts, he said. Right now, the code is silent on definitions for different kinds of uses. For instance, if someone wanted to build a cottage development, it would be a scramble to find the appropriate use, Ternet said.
Therefore, the draft for module 1 proposes new definitions for different, individual uses that are not defined in the code, he said.
While module 1 is being circulated for approval and comments, work continues on the second module for the code, Ternet said. There are three modules for the Chapter 16 code project and the modules will build off each other. Comments on each module will be addressed in subsequent modules. Module 1 addresses use regulations, including zoning districts. Module 2 covers development standards. And Module 3 will address administration and procedures within the development code.
“At this point we are probably looking at having drafts done for all three modules by early next year,” he said.
Work on the code is happening in parallel with the downtown master plans for Los Alamos and White Rock. Ternet said some members of the public have wondered why the downtown areas haven’t yet been addressed in the code revisions released for public review. He emphasized that the two projects while connected are separate. Adopting the master plans will not directly lead to code changes but does inform on the development code update process.
“The idea is to have the master plans approved so the County decision makers agree with the recommendations in those plans and then put those recommendations in the code update,” he said.
Updating Chapter 16 will be beneficial to everyone, Ternet said.
“The development code is always kind of difficult for members of the public to read and understand, especially if you are not experienced in reading code … if it is not something you are used to doing it can be intimidating … but hopefully it is going to be a little more streamlined,” he said. “The current County development code is outdated; it is in need of modifications. I think ease of use for the members of the public is a big benefit … also identifying for staff and the public the different areas that we know are used but our code doesn’t currently mention and if the code doesn’t define certain uses you have to improvise … if you don’t have definition for something and it is a common use it can be a problem … those areas with more definitions and specified regulations will be beneficial to members of the public and County staff … at present we definitely have to search for a lot of solutions, but if we have more code definitions with specific regulations assigned to those definitions then solutions will be more easily understood.”
As far as developers, Ternet said they are frequently contacting County staff about what uses are allowed in specific districts. Updating the code will help answer those questions about what is and isn’t allowable.
Plus, since the development code hasn’t been significantly changed since the County was incorporated, it is time to update it, he said.
“As far as I know this is basically the original development code from when the County was incorporated,” Ternet said. “It has gone through amendments over the years, but it never really had much change, overall.”
Chapter 16 is not the only chapter in the Code getting an update. Ternet said work is starting on Chapter 18, which addresses the nuisance code such as weeds, inoperable vehicles and RV parking.
“I think people will be really interested in that one,” he said.
D/P/S also is contracted to assist with the work on Chapter 18.
