A Public Open House was held Tuesday, January 19, 2021 to inform the public of the Technical Code Review findings as part of the Los Alamos County Chapter 16 Development Code Update. The Public Open House was held virtually using Zoom and there was approximately 25 participants. The Technical Code Review identifies strengths and weaknesses of the existing Development Code and provides preliminary recommendations on pertinent code updates and changes to the organization and structure. The project team began the meeting with a presentation on Code Update goals and process and an overview of key themes from targeted user and administrator interviews.

Key findings of the Technical Code Review represent the bulk of the presentation. These include, among other findings, missing linkages between the standards of the Development Code and adopted Comprehensive Plan and other adopted policies, disorganization of the existing Code structure, lack of graphics, tables, and flowcharts, proliferation of zone districts creating unnecessary complexity within the Code, incomplete use index table does not include all zone districts and doesn’t link to use-specific standards, lack of adequate provisions that increase housing availability and housing density in downtown places, lack of adequate provisions for neighborhood protections, lack of built-in flexibility for inherent development challenges, and lack of sustainable development practices. An overview of zoning approaches and a proposed code structure was outlined at the end of the presentation.

The presentation was followed by a discussion where participants asked questions and provided comments.