Board meeting weekly to recommend remainder of UDO

The Polk County Planning Board is working at a steady, weekly pace to get the majority of the unified development ordinance (UDO) recommended and have decided to separate and take more time defining mountain and ridgeline regulations.

The planning board met Wednesday, July 25 and approved several articles of the UDO, including Article 10 (development review process), Article 11 (building design guidelines), Article 12 (off street parking and off street loading requirements), Article 13 (outdoor lighting), Article 14 (landscaping, buffering and screening), Article 16 (sign regulations), Article 21 (energy generating facilities) and Article 26 (land preservation overlay).

Planning board chair Lisa Krolak said Article 22 includes the impact statement, Article 24 includes regulations for steep slope and Article 25 includes mountain and ridgeline regulations, all of which are going to take more time.

She said the planning board has looked at Article 25 with the suggestion of taking out the current elevation restrictions. The planning board is currently considering regulating the mountains and ridgelines by the view shed approach, which will include mapping and defining the county’s ridgelines.

“Elevation is an option but we are trying to avoid that so that is going to take some time,” Krolak said.

County attorney Mike Egan said Polk could define the elevation the county is going to regulate, but that mapping is going to take some time. He said the other suggestion is to do a view shed analysis, but that will also take time determining what view points the county wants, then mapping it.

He said either way it’s going to take time including from staff and perhaps consulting time.

“It’s the board’s choice to make that a separate project while making a recommendation on the UDO on the whole,” Egan said.

The planning board also last week heard public comments.