Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Planning Commission is called to order. Could everyone please silence their telephones? Uh, Commissioner Klutz, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we begin with our opening public comment, I want to welcome Commissioner actually chair uh Mark Gardner is here with us today and also Steve O'Harn, a new attorney who will be as part of his duties uh working with planning and community development. Thank you, sir. I will speak into the microphone. Public comment is limited to three minutes per speaker on matters over which the planning commission has jurisdiction, supervision or control. The planning commission wants to encourage the respectful consideration of all views by members of the public. If the content is willfully disruptive of the meeting by being irrelevant, repetitious, slanderous, offensive, inflammatory, irrational, or amounts to a personal attack or interfering with the rights of others. Obviously, it's not under our purview and the individual will be asked to stop speaking. In addition to opening public comment, public comment will be taken on public agenda hearing items that are

identified for possible action and closing public comment. If you plan to speak on a specific agenda item that is on the public agenda uh and identified for possible action, please provide your public comment when that agenda item is heard so that we can avoid repetitious commentary. At this time, public comment will be taken on items within the jurisdiction and control of the planning commission. Additional comment uh public comment periods uh may be allowed on individual items as I've indicated to you. There are two things I wish to uh tell the group here gathered today and I thank you very much for being here at our April 14 meeting. The first is there's a high likelihood that the first agenda item may be continued. So if you're waiting here, I don't want you to wait too long uh for that uh to occur. the wait may be as much as a month. And uh the second item we're going to discuss after clo closing comment, there's a special announcement by one of our commissioners uh so that I hope those of you that are interested can remain. I'm now going to open uh public comment. Chairman Gardner,

it's certainly been some time since I've been down here, but um anyways uh and as you know uh my name is Mark Gardner for the record and uh I uh really do uh try to avoid coming to the planning commission. uh I do that out of purpose because most of the things that you decide uh are going to eventually wind up on our desk and so I don't want to necessarily be prejudiced too much by what goes on in your board. But um I did want to make an observation and a and a comment. Uh number one uh Mr. Bruno uh chair uh you're sitting in my chair or maybe I sit in your chair every once in a while. Huh?

I'm sitting there. No, I sit over there. I know. Okay. Oh, okay. But we'll have it replaced. We'll have it replaced.

We'll get past that. Okay. So, um secondly, and I u and I apologize for this in advance. Uh uh I do have a 2:00 meeting and so I won't be able to stay uh very long and I won't be here for closing public comment. So, uh Mr. Klutz, with your indulgence, uh if you don't mind, I would like to preempt uh that that announcement that I'm sure that you have, Mr. Chairman, has alluded to. Okay. Uh uh uh so, but I did want to come by today on behalf of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners uh to express our uh our well wishes, I suppose, and thank you for your service as a planning commissioner. I believe that you're in the middle of your second term. Am I somewhere in that neighborhood? About 6 years now. So, uh I I have found and I'm sure that the uh the other commissioners have found your comments and your observations and your research and your diligence and and studying the the process and studying the things that come before you um is very well thought of. And uh if if uh you had pursued a third term, I'm sure that that would have occurred. But uh uh we appreciate uh the service that you've given the county uh in this capacity uh and and thank you for that and uh wish you the well uh in uh other endeavors and other things. Uh and so I just wanted to come by today and and quickly share that with you and and thank you for your service. Uh and thank you also other members of the board of uh planning commission uh for your service as well. So thank you very much for that.

Thank you chairman and thank you. May I chair? Yes sir. Uh that the uh chair recognizes uh Commissioner Clud. Uh thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you Chair Gardner for those kind words. I appreciate you and I appreciate all the members of the commission for your support over the last six years. Uh means a lot to me. difficult decision, but your support had a lot to do uh with wanting to be here. And so I I thank you for being here. And uh if you wouldn't mind sharing those sentiments with the other commissioners, I would appreciate it.

Thanks very much, Commissioner Cluts.

Good afternoon, Ellie Waller. I wasn't going to speak, but I decided it's a probably a good idea today to thank each and every one of you, no matter how long or short you've served uh as planning commissioners. It takes a lot of time and energy. And um lots of us appreciate being able to approach each and every one of you. And uh I guess a special thanks is due today to uh Bryce. Um it's hard to see people leave and uh we'll see new people come forward, but thank you personally. Um you always are respectful um and um thank people for their comments. And with that said, I also hope that in the future our board of county commissioners take your recommendations um a little more thoughtfully when they overturn especially unanimous votes. um you as well as the commissioners read the findings and it's appreciated when you come forward with recommendations and very uncomfortable for the public like me to see them overturned. Thank you for all you do.

Further public comment. Seeing no one, uh we'll move to the approval of the minutes. Pardon me. Agenda. I apologize. Not the minutes. The agenda first. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move approval of the agenda as written. It's been moved. Is seconded. Seconded. Uh to approve the agenda as written. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? The motion passes unanimously. The next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes.

Mr. Chair, if there are no corrections, I will move approval of the minutes. It's been moved. Is there a second? Uh, there second. Um, Commissioner Sir.

All right. I appreciate that. Thank you, sir. Any discussion? Further discussion, no. Uh we'll take a vote. I'll call the question. All those in favor of approval of the minutes. I.

Any opposed? The minutes. Uh approval of the minutes pass unanimously with one abstension. Uh the next item on our agenda for possible action is a discussion on a major variance application DP26-00004 for 1558 street mind seeking approval to one install a driveway on the north side of the property within the functional area of the Mono Avenue and US Highway 395 intersection and without compliance with a pilocable NDOT and Douglas County standards and two reduce the northwesterly side setback at the property from 10 ft to 5t to construct a proposed garage. The subject property is located in the mind community plan area and is zoned multifamily residential. The applicant is Pat Clark, building concepts for the owner, the Norton family trust 2024. The uh parcel number is 1320-32-11-078. Uh comments from staff are appropriate at this time.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, vice chair, commissioners, everyone in attendance today. Uh Linda Doherty, community development for the record. So, as you've read into the record there, this major variance request was a two-parter. Um the applicant wishes to withdraw the first part, which is the driveway access or driveway connection onto Mono Avenue. um that this item was heard before the town board on April 2nd and it was unanimously denied because it doesn't meet the county uh standards for separation near intersections. So, um originally the property owners um had relayed the information that if that connection was denied, they weren't going to pursue the construction of a new attached garage. Um, but in recent days, uh, they've changed their mind and they they do want to build the garage, but they will have access from the alley. Um, which is consistent with the neighborhood. Um, the alley is narrow, but all the homes, uh, or most of them do have access from the alley. um to make space for the new garage. It's going to be attached to the house, but it is um there are two accessory structures that are going to be removed. They're in pretty bad shape. Um one of them currently encroaches onto the neighbor's property. Uh so they're removing those structures to make room for the garage. Um and the setback is what the focus of the variance they are requesting now. Um the the town board didn't review the variance portion of the request um just because it had been relayed that the garage would not be constructed if the driveway connection was denied. Um but they do want to move forward with that. But um since the town didn't review the variance for the setback, I leave it up

to you. Um, do you want to proceed today to discuss to discuss the variance for the setback or do you want to do a continuence to allow the town board to review uh the variance? Um, and Mr. Pat Clark of building concepts is here to represent the applicant if you have any questions.

Thank you, ma'am. Uh, commissioners, I call your attention to the town of Minden. Um, in the appendix and the letter does not address uh the current uh issue that uh um of the uh proposed garage and uh so I understand fully of what you're saying. Planner Dy, is there any comment from the um from the applicant? Yes. Could you also tell us your desires after you tell us who you are and write it down?

Yes. Uh my name is Patrick Clark. I'm with Building Concepts. So I understand we may have a continuence, but there has been a bit of a frustration with the applicant. Uh the process has been a little bit um poorly managed, I suppose. So some of the frustrations are we initially approached town of mindon with this project and they told us they did not need to review it. Um they were that turns out to be apparently not the case as uh Katherine corrected. Um so then we made the application went to the town. There is two distinct requests in the variance. One is for the setback one is for the encroachment of the driveway off of uh Mono Avenue. and they denied the Mono Avenue and they were they were silent. They they didn't I don't know why they didn't address the variance request for the setback. But uh applicants the the client that I'm representing is is has a feeling that that they were offered this for review. They did review it. It's all they need to do. If they were silent on it, I think we could still move forward today. So, I understand if it gets sent back, but uh you know um I can't really control what the town amendment does, but uh I don't think the applic should have to spend another month on reapplying when they had already done so due diligence, you know, and um and then the town didn't perform, I suppose. So, anyways, uh we could talk about the issues while we're here. Um the driveway did not go well. No one at the town appreciated it. Um we understand why. Um but you know there are many other examples of an encroachment in this position in the town that um are not a problem. The number one example was the uh driveway for the COD casino is in the same position and uh I drive that street

quite often. on an Esmeralda and we don't drive into Esmeralda worry about if someone's going to drive out of that parking lot for the Cood Casino, but Cood Casino got their access. We do not. So, we were a little disappointed with the um overwhelming negativity towards that. Um, however, given that that's going to be a non-starter, the clients decided that they would tear down the rear structure, which is not a bad, they were actually actively remodeling it to get access to the property to the same position for a garage, but access through a long driveway on the um northwest side of the residence. So, that's what we're looking for. And then of course the garage would occupy that front space. So um anyways I understand if it has to go back but uh it's a bit frustrating because we're already there. They uh for whatever reason did not um specifically review it but they did review it or they had the opportunity to review it. So you know like I said the owner is quite frustrated with the process. So, um, if you have any questions about the actual application, even if we table it, I don't mind answering them now because if there's something we could if if we're stuck with the delay, um, we could then take that time to address that. So, um I think our number one reason for the request and why we feel this 5-ft step back is reasonable is because this is a multifamily overlay onto what has traditionally been single family uses along Mono on the west side. Um this is not a multifamily use. It is a multif family zoning. Um other single family residential properties with this use do enjoy a 5-ft side setback. Um, you know, including many of the new houses out on

Desireette, all of them have five foot setbacks. So, we feel it's in keeping with the use of the property even though it doesn't align with the zoning. So, and it is for a garage, which we have limited access to provide a garage for this property. Um, and now it looks like the owner is going to have to sacrifice a significant portion of the existing structure in order to even attempt to place a garage. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Now, I recognize, as we all do, of the uh difficulties with respect to timing, but uh you probably understand given your position that the commission does, while it's not dispositive, find sometimes persuasive the town of Minden, particularly with their planning and their planning documentation, if something is consistent or inconsistent. And uh it it is not a penalty or anything of that nature if uh the board, pardon me, the uh commission decides to let uh Minden have input with respect to this issue. I recognize your position is that they've already seen it, but I cannot find anywhere in their letter where they addressed it.

So So if they chose not to address something, it would remain in this cycle indefinitely. No, actually uh if they chose not to address it, they would have said so then would be in a different kettle of fish right now. Yeah, I believe they there is just it's in limbo and I apologize for that. Yeah. Well, it's it's nothing anyone here did. So, but but uh I can definitely understand my client's frustration with the process. So, as do we and you've expressed it eloquently.

Thank you. So, if you have any questions about the actual application of the setbacks, I don't know if you guys can do some discussion about it, even though maybe you can't call a vote. I'm not sure. It's at the pleasure of the commission. uh hearing what you've heard thus far uh I think that uh first I should ask is there any comment from the public with respect to uh what we're about to launch into which is likely a continuence of this matter noon again I wasn't going to comment And I will just support um that there are issues and confusion with processes in lots of things not just before the planning commission but how we work through master plans and area plans and Tahoe etc. Thank you.

Thank you ma'am. Linda Dhy for the record. Yes ma'am. I also want to mention that the findings um weren't the correct findings that were sent in the application to the town. So, we need to work on that as well. So, the uh findings that we see in the letter from Minden sometimes address things that were not particularly pertinent to the first question. Yeah, they they um I was trying to polite as I could be. Right. I appreciate that. Yeah. Um the findings for the variants for the setback weren't Yes. the correct ones. Uh we have a comment from uh our authority

AJ Ames, excuse me, from the DA's office. For the record, I just wanted to comment that the board's bylaws in section 8 do state that if there is a major change to a project that it is the board's uh typical policy to continue those matters. if there needs to be additional findings, time uh for findings to be made, for staff reports to be altered, uh for another board to make a recommendation. And so I'm ultimately what the board can choose to proceed or not, but I just wanted to highlight that that is in the bylaws. Um and so a continuence if the board elects to go that way would be consistent with that section of the bylaws. Thank you, AJ. As a matter of fact, it would be consistent with the facts as we've heard them thus far.

Do I have a motion? No,

Mr. Chair, I would like to comment. I was at the town of Minden meeting and it is true the town did not discuss the variance at all. They were focused on the driveway. And because of the changes to the application and at the town meeting, it was stressed that the owner did not want to tear down the small structure that will have to be removed. There are a lot of changes that are going to be done to the property. I believe it is in the best interests of the planning commission and the applicant also that we continue this.

Yes, I agree with those comments. I can easily see that the question in front of the town had most to do about that driveway and the issues with the driveway. So, at the point that they denied the driveway, it would seem if I was sitting on that council, I would probably think the other issues become moot. I I get that they weren't addressed outwardly, but I could definitely see the logic in what they did. I would agree with madame vice chair and that I would have a very hard time going much further on this without the county findings without the uh the diagram of what they're planning to develop and and I will be very interested uh next month or whenever this comes back um on why they need a a setback variance at all because as I see that backyard it seems like there's plenty of room to do what they want to too. So, I I would be looking for that in the future as to really what is the hardship that would justify a setback when you have a whole backyard to put a a garage in. But I I concur with the the comments of the vice chair. And if you need a motion, I would make that motion. Did you make the motion?

No. No. Okay. Okay. Finish the comments. I can address your question. Uh one moment, sir. Commissioner Lauren, thank you. I also agree that um it's best for the town to reconsider this issue. My question is, are you simply flipping the garage around or is it going to be re redesigned?

Well, Patrick Clark for the applicant. Um we are using the same spot or location for the garage, but yes, we're moving the the door instead of facing Mono Avenue would face the alley. And then they would have to the cars would have to travel along the back or rear of the residence which is on the northwest side. And the reason we need the extra width is because otherwise we could only get a onecar garage in there. So we'd like to get two cars which is the county standard and that requires a little bit more um width and um it's difficult to provide that. Also, we can't put the garage on the alley because the development of the property to the south uh southwest there has encroached quite a bit into the alley and you can't make a turn. So, um we can't put the garage where the structure is now because you can't make that turn in an automobile. So, so the only way to only place left to put it would be in that um north corner of the existing uh dwelling. And uh and like I said, we need the extra width to get um a chance at a second par um width. So,

thank you. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Uh now, I believe it would be premature to deny uh this application, but I will entertain a motion to continue. Rice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move to continue the hearing on major variance application DP26-00004 for 1558 First Street Minden to I believe May 12th, 2026. Is that sufficient time? Yes.

Linda Dohy for the record. Um yes, the next mind town board meeting is May 6th and then your next planning commission meeting is May 12th. Okay. And I want the great pleasure of seconding Bryce's last motion with the planning commission. So I second. Very good. It's been moved and seconded for the continuence to the May 12 meeting. Uh this application is their discussion. We've just heard from our planner that uh that is doable and indeed uh comports with the town of Mindon's agenda as well. Sir,

and we're assuming that the town of Minton can put this on the agenda for that meeting. They don't have other issues that might conclude that. Uh I'm assuming nothing. I'm assuming nothing, but uh if it's brought to their attention that they've seen it once and this is the latter half of the materials that may be submitted and we're asking for uh further opinions as the applicant has. That's as much as we can do for the applicant in terms of pushing this forward. All those in favor? Any opposed? The motion for continuous passes unanimously.

Thank you all. Uh number two on the agenda which is uh not for action except for uh commentary. It says possible action, presentation, discussion, and direction to staff on the pending update to amend and update the Douglas County code title 20 Douglas County Development Code. Douglas County Community Development staff is sponsoring this discussion. Particular have an Marie Lane's comment on here. Let's uh hear from staff. Thanks. Thank you, Chairman Bruno. Um, members and everyone in attendance today. Good afternoon. Uh, Kate Moris O'Neal for the record, planning department. So, on behalf of the community development staff, uh, we are happy to be here today to present the long awaited pending Title 20 code update. This is our first public hearing. There will be many to follow, but uh we're at the we're at the beginning. So, that's a good that's just really good news that we're here today. We are simply asking for direction on any areas within title 20 that you would like staff to update or possible additions you would like to see in code. There is no action to provide approval on any um suggested red lines or additions to date. Staff will bring forward for approval. As I mentioned,

red lines we have compiled at future public hearings. The first thing you will notice um in articles 1 through three that we have shared with you today is the proposed new layout and reorganization of title 20. Over the past couple years, staff tested several different layouts and landed on the one you see today. Further in our presentation, we will discuss um and address the reorganization in more detail. Staff are requesting direct feedback on this reorganization in order proceed uh proceed with the rest of the proposed articles in the same layout. To date, staff has conducted two public workshops, one in December and one last week on April 8th. Both workshops included overview of the goals and objectives of the pending code update, a presentation in addition to providing open forum for questions related to areas of concern in existing code. Staff provides three articles at a time for each workshop. Staff presents suggested updates and additions to code, but as stated earlier, any and all redline updates will be presented for appro approval at future meetings. Some of the provided feedback from public workshops has helped staff to zero in on certain areas of concern within code and regulations we may need to revise. For example, regulations associated with RV parking and the implementation of dark sky regulations are good examples. In addition, staff will provide comment sheets moving forward at public workshops for those who would like to write down and share their ideas, concerns, etc. In addition to possibly

sharing via the comment link on the title 20 web page, staff did create the title 20 update web page in October of 2025. This has a lot of information and an ongoing comment link to provide feedback. Included in the supplemental today are some of the documents you can find on that web page, um, including the results of the survey monkey we did in October of last year, as well as the comments we have received via the comment link as of April 7th of this year. And now, uh, let's get into the, uh, presentation. Nope, there we go. Um, so unfortunately Tom Delair, the community development director, um, is unable to be with us today. Um, as well as Sher Bowman from RCI, who has done all the new graphics for the pending update. Uh, here today we have Andrea Pauling, our deputy director of community development, and Ann Marie Lane from NCE, who has been instrumental with assisting us with the pending updates. I'll pass now to Andrea to give an update on our new permitting software.

Good afternoon, commissioners. Andrea Pauling for the record. Um, so I'll leave this brief. As with any new permitting software, you know how easy that is, right? Um, conversions are amazing. I mean, everything worked very smoothly. I kid. Um, it did not work as smoothly as we um anticipated. uh but you know we did anticipate some bumps. So we are currently fully into Opal our uh new permitting software as of March 23rd we went live um a lot of it is working very well we actually have the Oracle team and govpath with us right now so I'm taking a break from that coming here to see you guys today. Uh so they are working through some of the issues that we had. A lot of issues with the converted records which honestly is it's common um unfortunately as well. So uh we are excited to see how this rolls. Um we picked this system because it is our own. It is our own for our own jurisdiction. This is something we've been wanting for a very long time. Uh so I I'm excited about it. I am impressed with staff and the customers who have been working through it. Uh we appreciate their patience. We know that it is a struggle and we're all on the struggle bus, but we will get off of that soon. Um I am anticipating that in the next few months we'll have a lot more uh updates and some cool things that are coming down the pike. So, I just wanted to put that out there. This is where we're at today and uh we're excited about it. Thanks, Andrea. Again, Kate Marilus O'Neal for the record. Um, I can say from a public standpoint, I had to do an electrical permit. So, I got to create my public user and actually go through the application and it was extremely user friendly. Um, and then we noticed a problem with the fees. So, thankfully I was like a guinea pig and they were able

to fix a problem that they were just having with the once you pay in the deposit. But um I felt it was very userfriendly. So that's that I think people are really going to enjoy the news the new software. Okay. So moving on. Um the reason this update is as we all know is so important is because the development code is like our rule book. So it's important that when we are discussing land use and zoning districts development standards procedures and safety and pro protection it's important to have a well organized consolidated um and very clear understanding of what the regulations are. So, one of the biggest reasons for doing this update is not only is it overdue, but it's such an important piece in our county for anything and everything that that we do. Um, why now? Well, as I said, it's just right now we're dealing with um fragmented patchwork, right? One section of code might say one thing and then it contradicts itself in some way and another. makes it very challenging when you're in planning or engineering or building trying to constantly decipher which one trumps the other. So, it makes it very difficult, hard to navigate, extremely hard to navigate. Again, a very outdated we're dealing with a it did did just go digital, but previously it was a PDF document. Um, and even now with the digital, it's just very hard to navigate because things are are all over the place. the same topic might be in five different sections of code. Um, and outdated standards. You know, we have things that we need to address uses that are not currently in the code um of things that you see people wanting to do or you see other jurisdictions have included and we we just need to get up

to date more with our standards. On that note, I'm going to pass this over to Ann Marie again. and she has been instrumental in helping us with um the code updates and has a lot of experience in code updates and so I'll pass that over to you.

Thank you Kay and good afternoon planning commission. I'm excited to be here and this is an exciting process for your community. Um you'll notice this this jumbled diagram up here. Um, what I want you to know is that this your Douglas County's code, it's not the issue of things being fragmented. It's not unique to Douglas County. That's what happens when you edit a document over a long period of time. It's going to get disorganized and things are going to be put in different places. So, um, this is what our the current Douglas County Code outline looks like to the left. This is the new outline to the right. Three things that I do want to point out to you is that you'll notice there are three articles that don't have arrows to them. And I'll go over why that is. So, article 4, overlay districts. We pulled the overlay districts out of where they currently exist and we wanted them to have a standalone section so that they're easy to navigate to. The other one is article 7 land use specific developments. So this is where um if you have a specific land use that you want to do on a property, what are the requirements to develop for that? What we found is those specific development standards were all over in the code. You would have seen an arrow from just about every one of those chapters to that. So um now we're going to have a designated consolidated place for those to be. Um and then lastly is the code enforcement. code enforcement was speckled throughout many different sections of the code. Um, and we all like clear direction and and clear consequences. Things need to be easy for us to understand and so we wanted that to be brought out and

highlighted. Next slide, please. Um, so this new code will it's organized into a logical flow. Um and again replacing those scattered chapters. Um and then we talked about those additional key articles. Next slide please. The other exciting thing um is the that we're incorporating into the code is that we had multiple documents um that people had to reference when they were looking at land use. And so this design criterion improvement standards um part one will be incorporated into article 7 so that you don't have to go reference a different document when you're um trying to find those regulations. Next slide please. Uh the other exciting thing is that currently there are appendex A through F. Um, appendix A was the definitions and definitions are getting moved into article one, which is general provisions. Those land use definitions. Um, I'll show you the organization later on in a slide. Um, but they'll be incorporated into the title 20 development code instead of living as a another separate document. um article or I'm sorry, appendex C, D, E, and F. We'll be able to incorporate those into article 8, which are the development standards. No, again, no need to go look at those um separate documents. We do need to maintain um three appendices, which will be the uniform code revisions, the East Fork Fire Protection District amendments, and then the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District amendments. But again, that greatly reduces the amount of appendices for your title 20.

And now I will turn this over to Andrea to talk about how we've where we've been, where we're going. Yeah.

Hello again, Andrea. Pauling for the record. Uh this is just a tentative project timeline. Uh we started this well, we've started it years ago, but uh 2025 we made some headway and had several meetings. I didn't put all of those from uh all last year, but we started in December because that was our first public workshop. I know Kate alluded to this already and mentioned that we've had two public workshops already. Um we've had a good attendance at both and great questions and great feedback. So, we wanted to give you kind of a overview of where we're headed this year. We do at ultimately at the end of the year we plan to launch title 20 code complete update and uh we're we're hoping by the end of December 2026 beginning January 2027 uh jumping right into the new title 20. Um throughout this process we will be including you guys as the planning commission. We'll be including um board of county commissioners and again more public outreach and workshops. Uh the website currently will have all of our updated documents. So anytime we do a public workshop, the presentations, the the red lines of the draft articles, and again like Kate said, we'll have three articles at a time that are going we didn't want to bring it all at once. That is a lot of information, and so we're we're breaking it up. So all of the information that we go over in those workshops will be uploaded onto the website. Uh at the end of this you will see that there's a QR code, there are links, all of those things so that um staff and uh the public can can get to that website and have the most updated information. We've had a lot of feedback on how do we get feedback into Title 20? How does the public get involved? And that's why we have that QR code and we have an open survey monkey link so we can accept that feedback directly

online. Um, as Kate mentioned, something we weren't doing, we wanted to have this very digital so it was easy for us to post the information and get that information out there, but we do understand other um, you know, the public would like to put it in writing. So, we're going to have those forms at the public workshop so that they can actually write it out and we can scan it in and have that um, real time. So, our our next meeting after this one will be um with the board of county commissioners and that'll be on um May 21st and then we'll have our third public workshop on May 27th. Uh the rest is very uh open right now. It's just kind of to be determined. We are hoping to have a June bring this back in June in front of you guys and the public uh or I'm sorry and the BOCC. But again, it's to be determined on on how the flow goes and the kind of feedback we receive from you, the public, and the board of county commissioners. And I just said a lot there. I'm going to end it there. All right. Thanks, Andrea. Again, Kate Moris O'Neal for the record. So, we don't have to go over this. I did include these results. This was the survey monkey from October. It ran for 30 days. Um, or I guess that's 31 days technically. Um and it just kind of gives you this is like a synopsis of the results. Um 102 respondents, 83% were residents. Um you know, and the the biggest challenges with code are determining standards, inconsistencies with code, navigating the permit process. So you see a lot of common themes that I mentioned before of why are we here and why are we doing this. In addition, this is the um some more from the survey. The highest priority, this one here, goals are making the code more user-friendly and accessible online and improving organizations. Again, a lot of common

themes of just the basics of why we're doing this, not to mention we need to update our standards. I think this is back to Ann Marie and Marie Lane for the record. So now we're going to go into a detailed review of um some some of the highlighted proposed change changes in the organization of um title 20. So the first one that I want to talk about um are these land use definitions. As I mentioned earlier, those were in appendix A. In addition, land use definitions were speckled throughout the entire entire title 20. And so, um, what we did is we pulled all of those definitions together and put them up front alphabetically, um, in the table of contents. So, if you're looking for land use, you're going to find the definition in one spot. Um, we took measurements, construction, and code terminology definitions and put those together um, so that they're easy to find as well. Anything related to flood plane management or flood plane management definitions will reside in um a future article article six I believe. Let me yes I guess right article six flood plane management. So that those definitions that relate to that are right there as well. Um there were four reasons that we determined we needed to revise definitions. The first one is if there was um a use listed in the land use table, but it didn't have a definition. So really there were only two of those. One was cluster development and the other one was grading of more than 500 cubic yards. So, um, looking at other jurisdictions and then reviewing, um, cluster development and how it's applied within, uh, Douglas County specific. We staff came up with a definition. Um, and I

would like to read that to you right now. Again, we're not asking for approval of this definition at this point, but these are the things that we are working through. And one of the things I love about this um process is that we're getting feedback from the public um so that we can incorporate that as we move forward. So for cluster development um a residential development pattern in which lots are concentrated on a portion of a parcel or on multiple contiguous or non-ontiguous parcels under common ownership in order to preserve agricultural land, open space and natural resources on the remainder of the property through permanent legal protections. Um, I won't read the grading one. Um, but it does help eliminate any confusion or back and forth if somebody was applying for a permit. So, the second reason that a definition needed to be changed is uh we found that a lot of the definitions contained um use specific standards and this was part of the confusion. So um I'm going to read that part that was so for example these are just examples agricult agricultural products processing storage and storage the text that's crossed out it says small lender or small lumber operations must be located no closer than 500 ft from any adjacent resident located on the same parcel. So, that doesn't really tell you what the use is. It tells you where it can be. Um, and if you don't look up the definition, you're going to miss that regulation. So, we took that and moved it to the use standards. Same thing with animal keeping. Um, we tried to keep the definitions just

specific definitions and the use standards together. Um the third reason is that we provided updates um were to ensure legal consistency and compliance. And I'd like to thank uh the county's legal department for helping assist with this. For example, halfway house um that use is regulated by NRS and that is an outdated use. They now use recovery house. Same with marijuana and medical marijuana establishments. Um, NRS now refers to that as cannabis establishment. Now, these definitions changed where they uh where cannabis establishment is allowed in Douglas County didn't change for the record. It's not anywhere. Um, but we needed to update to be in complant with state regulations. Um and then lastly, evaluating um any new land uses that we aren't capturing currently. So staff um has recent request for rural events. Um so we looked at what the intent is. What are people wanting to do on their property? How can we define that? And um again, these this is a work in progress. We're getting good feedback about what the public thinks on these. Um

Miss Lane. Yes. Before you get too far up, there's a question from the uh commissioner on the last question when you were going through the cannabis. Sure. I'm sorry.

Well, it's not the cannabis, it's definitions in general when you're talking about definitions. My question is there are terms that are I hear used around by people who either are new to the area or have been in in the industry previously or are still are but are transplants or transients. They are not in our jargon that we use. But would they be appropriate to include in our definitions, let's say these are not define what they are, but to say this is not a Douglas County standard or something, but they are terms that are in use in other

construction or planning in other jurisdictions. Perhaps not in Douglas County, but they are say in Las Vegas or they are in Alpine County or you know adjoining jurisdictions.

And Marie Lane, for the record, can you please clarify? Are you talking to the cannabis establishment definition um or just in in general planning? Um there are some use definitions that include, you know, they'll say this use does not include d, you know, other common terms or what people might mistake it for. Um I think it might be difficult um to incorporate all of that. However, if there were specific ones that the public or the commission thought were of concern and wanted to see, I think we could absolutely look at adding those.

So, I can if I right now I'm drawing a blank, but if they come up, I can put them in an email, throw them off to Kate, and yes. Or use the link, run them by you, and you guys can decide whether or not they're appropriate. And again, we're not deciding, we're taking input. So that's the beauty of this process. It's long. We'll be here. We'll be coming back to you a few more times before anything is approval, but we need that feedback, right? So, um, great question.

Yeah, if I may, Kate Moro, for the record, yeah, I think it's really important to is I shooting off an email is good, but use the comment link on the web page. Even as commissioners, I think that's really important because we capture that in real time, right? We can just download that document once a week and see what the new comments are versus trying to capture emails that you might send me and then a month later. So, we're we're really trying to encourage the public, you know, share with your family, share with your friends, you know, everybody this web page and trying to really make sure people comment and we can capture it digitally. And um just on your on that note, Moren, I I would just caution that we are trying to consolidate um and and limit the number of pages and so on and so forth. Um, so I just depending on what the definition is, we I wouldn't want to cause confusion where they're seeing a definition now they're going to look for it somewhere else in in code or I see what you mean. I I I guess a real example I'm drawing a blank too, but I do know what you're kind of referring to. But I would encourage all of you for to use the link that I think that would be a great avenue. M. Morales, uh, for example, to use the link, would you prefer that I bring up the issue of implied um, uh,

no, no, no, no, no, not a blank. Just thinking of the proper words to put it in receiving areas to put in. Um, while it's while it's implied that the it requires some definition, do you want me to write that in the um in the comments because it derives from issues that have been before the planning commission like last meeting?

Yes, Kate Morales O'Neal for the record. Yes, Chairman Bruno. Bruno, I think you're referring to the findings for a master plan amendment and and the challenge of we don't request a plan, but you really need a plan. So, identifying factors like that, absolutely. Any any type of feedback at all that we don't capture today and you think of something next week, I'm not saying don't email me, but I just think that's a better place to capture it. But please, you know, and if you want to bounce things off of us, too, we're all available. Okay, where are you? Who's up? Um, I was going to read Okay.

the accessor accessory rural event venue definition. Um, and again, this is um iterative. We're getting feedback on it. Um, an event facility located on a parcel where the primary land use is a residence or agricultural operation and where event activities are clearly subordinate and incidental to the principal use of the property. Accessory rural event venues may include the use of existing buildings, barns, agricultural structures, open landscapes, or outdoor gathering areas for private or small-cale commercial events such as weddings, family celebrations, tours, seasonal activities, workshops, and similar special occasions. So, we had really great discussion about this at our last public workshop. Um again this would be a land use for a commercial use on your private property and discussion came up about okay so what are the regulations going to be around this? How many of these would be appropriate per year? Is it one per month? Is it what attendance size is appropriate? What size of parcel is appropriate? So this um should the commission and the BOCC want to move forward with adding this land use um we'll also need to clarify what the regulations are around this. So staff took a shot at what areas this might be appropriate in. Um and that's what you see up there. Again this is for discussion and feedback is much appreciated. This may be something else that the commissioner has just seen recently.

Yeah. Yeah. Kate Moris O'Neal, for the record, if I may, it it's important like I we've identified these areas. Um but I I foresee different development standards for each, right? So keep that in mind. These we we haven't developed standards. That's where we're we're asking for your feedback. Again, you might come up with something next week. That's okay. if you don't doesn't dawn on you today. But um these are the type of things where we've we've seen this type of use being you know wanted especially on a land where you know they want to keep it rural but they want to still be able to it to be profitable. Um, and so we thought it's a use that we do have to address, but what that looks like is something to be determined based on um, public feedback and feedback from yourselves and the commissioners.

Chairman, I I get the feeling we're we're discussing things as we go here instead of waiting till the end. There was actually a question that uh the vice chair had and then I jumped on it when I recognized some of the uh uh circumstances that are presented in the presentation might have a very close alignment with things that we've seen uh in our various meetings and that that was the total I didn't mean to get into too much depth because I didn't want to take the folks off track but I managed to do that.

So we can come back to this during our comments. Yeah, Kate Moro, for the record. Um, Commissioner St. John, we can go back to any slide, too. So, once we get through the presentation, if you want to jot down notes and we can go back to any specific, we'll go back to the venue one um at at that time.

All right. So on to article two is our growth management allocation and transfer of development rights. Um in this section no substantial edits were made. Changes were limited to format formatting and minor clarifications for readability. That being said in the u draft redline edits. you'll be able to review all um proposed edits of the document um because just because I said minor it was a minor clarification um maybe you thought it was a major clarification so uh I want to be very transparent with any changes that are being proposed that way um I'm not saying oh just trust me it was minor you can go through and and really review it yourself same with the public transparency is is key uh So this next slide um it's I I showed you on the left this is what the old um or the current format looks like on the right this is what the new format kind of looks like and you'll see that in we had a b and c d on the left um but what we've added is a a brief detail of what each of those paragraphs are so if you're looking for u the base allocation calcul calculations, you know where that is. Or the annual growth formula, you can go to that part and it's underlined and it's just a little bit more organized that way. Next slide. Yes. Go ahead. Just wanted to add something quickly. Andrea Pauling for the record for transfer development rights. You guys know we're currently going under uh we have a study that is exploring how that system and that program works. So when we say that currently article 2 will not have substantial changes um we we mean that right now but we are going through a study. So we just want to clarify there could be changes coming down the pike

after we after we go to BOCC and present what what changes could be there but we wanted to let you guys know that. I'm sure you did but there it is. All right.

And Mar Lane for the record. Um, article three, zoning districts uses and lot and building standards. This is kind of the most exciting component I think of um the update so far. The first one is this consolidated land use table. Uh, next slide please. And then here are zoning districts. So again, we were trying to consolidate. Um, as part of that con consolidation, staff looked at uh four different zoning districts um that actually have never been used. So, from my research, I I think that these were um adopted by ordinance in about 2010. Um there's currently there are no parcels that are zoned this way. From my understanding, multiple things have happened. one um there's the county has cluster development regulations. They've adopted tiny home regulations and same with an ADU ordinance for accessory dwelling units. Um but really largely I think even more than that is that it appears that developers prefer to go with a PD a plan development as opposed to going through these zoning districts. Um so these are four areas that again these zoning districts haven't been utilized. Um are they worth taking off or do we need to look in more detail and keep them there? So that's up for discussion and we are gathering some public input on that as well. Um the second one is the new quick reference charts which are added for each zoning district and then again the consolidated use tables. So, next slide. Each zoning district will have two pages. Um, next slide. The first one has um permitted uses, design review required, and special use permit.

It's three columns that you can identify easily what is allowed and and what um entitlement you would need to go through to have that use be allowed. The second page is a visual diagram um that shows your uh lot frontage. My eyes can't see that. Oh, thank you. Your setbacks. The first one was property line setbacks and the last one was lot coverage. Um and then your structure heights and then any additional development standards. So again, trying to use infographics in a way that uh people are digesting information uh differently these days. And so this is um hopefully helping to capture um that audience. And I will now turn this over to Kate. Thank you, Amarie. Kate Moris O'Neal for the record. This is my favorite favorite favorite part of the update. Um, I can tell you planning department uses these tables every day, multiple times a day. And typically, you know, A19, FR40, and then the residential and then the commercial are all on their own pages and they're each like 15 pages long. And it was um very time consuming. I feel like we need like a drum roll because this is like my favorite thing ever because it's all on one table and we've minimized the number of pages. It's colorcoded. Um it's now alphabetized all the uses which I love too. Um yeah, I just I'm very excited about this from from just a e you know user friendly. it it's just become user friendly for everyone, developer, a resident, um, and and staff. So, I I am really happy with

these graphics. Again, I I wish Sherry was here. She's from RCI that we contracted with for the graphics, and she's done a phenomenal job with these graphics and giving her the information and consolidating them. So, real happy about that. I think it's go Oh, I'm gonna Oh, go ahead. because I this we didn't I forgot to switch it. That's okay. Go ahead. Real quick overview on the red line drafts. I just want to show you what it will look like. So, anything added

um will be shown in red and then anything um so for example that chapter is now called article one and then any language that is removed will be crossed out. Next slide. Back to Kate.

Sorry, back to me. I forgot to switch the slides. Um, so this is another exciting thing for me. So, um, I the the graphics I just always kind of chuckled at these old graphics cuz I I think someone just hand drew them. Um, they were pretty good. Some of them are pretty artistic, but um, so I thought, why don't I drive around town and take pictures that would match kind of what we're looking for more um, real life. So, I I the the idea is to use this. This is the new vet in Carson um down in Gardenerville. And it's exactly what we're looking for in this description. Um you know, wall recess with different texture and color, wall projection with different texture and color. So, great example. And I just thought it's more um you kind of get a better idea than this drawing. I'm it's the people I think that are distracting in that in that drawing. But um anyway, so that's the idea to idea too is to use um you know some real life graphics and things here in um in the county that you know people recognize and and better description. Back to you Amry.

All right. So quick yeah quick overview of our um articles four, five, and six. So our next public workshop will be going into the articles four, five and six in detail. Um this is what the over this is kind of the where we are right now with them. Um the again no substantial edits were made with these. Um minus the flood plane management definitions. Again, we pulled those out because they were kind of splattered throughout Title 20 and put them right next to where our flood plane management regulations are going to live. Um, so I think that's it for now for me.

Yep. Off to Andrea. Back to me, Andrea. Woohoo. Bringing it home. So, uh, we've talked about this slide quite a bit throughout here and we're going to bring this up, um, in every public workshop we have. Uh, that's the QR code for public feedback. The title 20 feedback link is H. Hit continue. All right. Well, Kate, there it is. Thought that would be fun. I didn't know we had to do that, but here's the here is the web page.

Okay, Kate. Thank you. So, here's the web page with all the updates. um as recent as last week. If Kate goes down just there you go. So after every public workshop, we're going to have a link to it that'll have all the information um that happened at the public workshop with the uh updates and all of the uploads. So um and we'll put them on the top for supporting documents and then it's show all documents and everything will live underneath there for previous workshops. Uh so anyway, this is this is on our this is on the website. You can link directly from the community development website. Uh it'll be right on the lefth hand side. It said title 20 website. Um and so it's very easy to navigate and get to if at we take feedback as well. if there's something not on this website that somebody would like to see if you know at one point I went on just last week and realized that the um you know the surveys that we did the consolidated surveys were subsequently deleted and so we put those back on. So we're constantly looking at it every week making sure that it has the most up-to-date information. Also on the on the um slide that we were just going on, it had that QR code. It had the link to current title 20 um the development code and uh and then as I was going through it to uh I wanted to make sure that everyone understands that that link to the survey monkey will be open throughout this entire process. It'll never be closed. We do repeat that a lot. I understand that. But we do get a lot of questions even after saying it. So we want to make sure everyone understands that this is going to continue to be there and we're going to continue to take feedback throughout the process till the very very end. Next slide please. All right. Next steps. What are the next steps? So we went over this a little bit with the timeline. As you guys know our

key objectives is to get community feedback to uh get your feedback to get board of county commissioners feedback staff feedback. We're also going to go internal with this. There's a lot of documentation over the years and we're navigating through it. Uh public engagement and workshops will happen throughout. Um right now it looks like it's going to be monthly because we had one in April. We'll also have one in May. Um and we're looking at possibly having one in June, but it's not guaranteed. Uh it could be every other month. It just depends on how much we get done and what we can show the public. We don't want to keep going back with the same information. We don't think that's very efficient. Uh so our next public workshop is at CVIC Hall and it's uh May 27th. We're going to dive in deeper to articles 4 through six. Um every public workshop we have, we will dive in to the articles that we introduced the last public workshop and give more information and then we will introduce the next three articles. Um and then we'll get to a point that we go over probably the entire title 20 uh which will be a long one and we understand that. But if we go through piece by piece, uh maybe less questions or less feedback by the end. We'll see. Um yeah, and to stay informed, you saw Kate show you where the website is and you can reach out to us anytime. We're available. Thank you.

Thanks, Andrea. Um one last thing just about the um proposed new layout and reorganization. Um I did discuss with um our deputy DA AJ HS um because it it might seem strange that we have title 20 and then articles. Um it it's okay it'll still be called title 20 but we are we are deferring to articles versus chapters. Um it just again we tried a lot of different layouts and with the chapters with the 20.0 it just the digits got so there was it was kind of a lot. So even though the rest of Douglas County it'll all be title one, title two, title three, we will kind of be unique where it's title 20, but it'll be separated out by articles versus chapters. I just wanted to throw that out there. Um, and at that, uh, the recommended action today is to direct staff on any pending update discussed today, um, or further exploration into specific areas of code to update. And with that, we have questions and comments and here for your disposal.

Commissioner Welder. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, first of all, I want to thank the staff and our consultant for their good work uh so far. Uh, long way to go, but I think you've made an excellent start, and I do appreciate all the effort that you've put in. Um, perhaps, uh, Ann Marie, maybe we can start with you. uh maybe you could just give us a twominute summary of your background and your experience. I think it's always good for the planning commissioners to know what your credentials are and I think it would help the public to know and have increased confidence that uh uh uh you can explain where you've been and what you've done.

That's a great point and I apologize for not doing that earlier. So, my name is Ann Lane. Um I have about 16 years working for local, state, and federal government. Um, I worked at the city of Reno when they went through their code update and have navigated that process in a few jurisdictions. I currently serve um I'm in my second term of the Nevada APA Association, which is the um the professional association for planners in the state of Nevada. Um my background I'm very detail- oriented almost to um a fault. Um my my background in education is I have a masters in geographic information systems. So I'm uh I love looking at patterns and organization. Um and sometimes I think maybe I should go back to school and become a land use attorney because these definitions are fascinating. Um, but that's a bit about me. I work for a company called NCE, which is an environmental and civil um, and planning firm based in Reno.

Excellent. Thank you very much. Um, I'll go through a list of four or five things that I have and most of them are comments uh, as opposed to questions, but I think you do want our feedback. U, if, uh, if there's a question or something like that, feel free to to interrupt me. Uh simple yes and nos are fine. Uh and just other things I'd like to to note for the record uh of what you're doing and where we need to go. Um first of all, I do think it's an excellent document to start. Uh good reorganization, good graphics, good color. Um I think you do want to provide a red line sooner rather than later. Uh I have a hard time grasping. Um, I pulled out my actual printed title 20 code. Uh, and I started to go through that last night. Um, and it's it's difficult to for me to just say, "Okay, this line should be stricken out or that line. I'd like to see the red line." Uh, and then we can really get into details of, oh, that's not the way we want to go or yes, we want to change something else. So, that would be helpful to me at least. Um, I wonder whether we need an index. Um I don't know if that's something you've discussed. Uh I just throw that out for uh feedback at any point. Um I'm sorry. Did you have a observation on what I just said?

Two observations real quick. So we do have a draft red line on um the website. One of the difficulties and um why we'll continue to update as we go is like I said the title 20 there were land use definitions all over it. So it's not a complete red line yet, but that is the goal. So things that we have done, articles one through three, although you'll see red lines all over the code, um we're updating that red line as we go. So I concur and I hope to be as transparent as possible as we move forward. So I appreciate that comment. Um as far as an index, we do have a table of contents at the very beginning. Um, but maybe it's not specific enough for you. I'm not sure.

The problem with an index is always because it gets so minute and if you say, "Oh, what am I looking for here as far as VHRs?" It may be in 12 different places. Um, it it just something I'm tossing out. Uh, your your professionals, you know better how to organize this and not make it too detailed.

Correct. Okay. Um if I may, Kate O'Neal, um member Walder, so regarding the red line, um the the the idea is a repeal and replace, we the you will see the red line, but based on the reor I mean the whole document is nearly redlined. So it's going to be a a challenging red line. Um but we have discussed coming back like maybe a section at a time like I you know we looked at today's meeting can we move forward with one and three we can't yet so that's why kind of everything is to be determined from here on out because it it's it's I think it's a misleading red line in the sense of everything's going to be redlined because it's a total reorg. Um, but I think identifying like trying to identify true red lines versus moving red lines. Um, it's it's challenging, but I just want to make you aware of that, too. It's it's what the document might look like as as a red line.

Excellent point, Kate, because that's kind of the way we did it with the master plan. Uh the master plan when we redid it in uh 2020 was a total reorga, but we did have the ability to say, "Okay, where are you changing something?" And that helped us with an understanding of what we need to do.

Um I was just going to add Kate Morloon for the record, one thing that I think might be an identifier that Ann Marie when she says she's detail oriented, she is not kidding. um is some of the changes she justifies and explains why we're changing and not to speak for you but I think that would be the identifier of what we're you're looking at not all the arrows when we move to this section but those are the type of red lines I think that you will be easily be able to identify this is something we've actually changed here's a land use definition and here's the justification why so when she first presented that to us I was like Oh my gosh. Wow. You know, just what you'll want to see um for the public and you as commissioners is to see those type of, you know, here's why we're changing it. Here's the justification. I don't know if you want to add anything to that, Amory.

Um that example that I showed of those two definitions where I had those lines crossed out, there was a column next to it that um said mood move to standards section. um ch changes are documented um in that manner and so you can see where the table was where the reference and then the edit note

that that's excellent excellent sec my second point is uh andrea you touched on this uh and I applaud you for what you've done so far uh I think we do need increased public review and comment um it's great we had 102 comments that were issued But I think when we did the master plan, we had over a thousand comments that came in. So as much as you can publicize the uh the the public opportunity to provide input either in person or online, I think that's extremely important. Um outreach to stakeholders I think is important. Um I think the the builders and the engineers that are working with this uh all the time need some special attention. Uh I'm not saying that they need special consideration. Um we don't don't want to to favor any particular group or entity. Um but we do want to to make sure that the people are using it need to uh to have uh have their say. Um I think there were very useful comments that that Hope Sullivan made that were in our packet. Uh people like that who have some expertise. Um, I know you also mentioned the staff uh uh consultant meetings. Um, obviously the staff code enforcement staff I hope are are uh uh putting in their two cents every single step of the way because they're the ones who are going to have to apply this uh when it comes down to it. So, um that's my second point on uh as much public uh review and comment as we can uh get into this process I think is going to make it a better one in the long in the long run. Uh my third point, I think we all need to to try and be mindful of what our overall goals are on this project. Uh I'm sure you've discussed that uh at infinit item with with all the staff and and the uh the county manager. Um I I don't hope we don't focus on the minutia. Uh you can get bogged down in

words here and words there. Um but our goal in my my view is simplification. I think the current title 20 is is uh overly complicated. Um I think we need to reduce the burdens on the applicants and the staff. Um so I think that's something that ought to be always in the back of your mind. And I think we need uh the increased ability within title 20 to streamline and shorten as much as we can all of the processes because that takes additional time on behalf of the applicants. Time is money. takes additional time on behalf of the staff. Uh we we're short staffed all the time and for pe for the staff have to go through 20 steps when we could simplify something into five steps that ought to be something that we keep in mind. Um my fourth point uh is uh I hope you're mindful of integrating this with the master plan. I pulled out my copy of the master plan. We have a number of references in the implementation section of the master plan particularly in the land use and historic preservation. So I think we can knock off a lot of the things that were required to do in the master plan by doing them in this title 20 reorganization and improvements. Um so I hope that can be done uh as part of uh what you're doing. Um, uh, I do live in Tahoe, so I'm mindful of what we, uh, are always doing with Tahoe and to Tahoe in this, uh, and and Kate, um, you've been through, uh, the wars there as, uh, as have I. So, I hope you're, uh, fully prepared to make sure that TRPA is involved, uh, where they need to be involved. Um and that uh uh can be worked out appropriately. Uh so improvements can be made there as well. You touched on it. Uh I'm not sure

whether it was you and Marie or someone else on state law. So obviously that's another thing you have to be mindful of. Uh this whole document really kind of needs to be run through AI and say where does this dovetail with state law because if state law is changed we got to change something in title 20. I I would assume we're not we can't uh supersede state law. Um and then finally uh the last thing that's very very important to me is the uh the growth management section and I think we need to think very critically. Uh it is due Mr. Chairman I'm sure you're well aware of this. We are required by the master plan to review uh the growth management ordinance every year. Uh so I hope we can do that perhaps even before June um as a part of what do we need to do to improve or correct u the growth management ordinance. I think there are some provisions that are in the growth management ordinance that are unintentionally flawed and whether the board of county commissioners uh this is something you probably should bring up at their meeting. Whether the board of county commissioners wants to bite off that problem or whether they want to kick it down the road, that's uh their call. I would prefer that we tackle it and solve it now rather than waiting till 2029 or 2030. Um but that's an issue that uh we don't uh we don't rule the roost. So um those are my comments. Uh I think again you've done an outstanding job. You've got u uh a lot uh more to accomplish and uh wherever we can help uh I'm willing to pitch in. So thank you again. Thank you, uh, Commissioner Walder. Commissioner Clutz.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I echo Commissioner Walder's statements about the the great job that you ladies have done so far. Um, simplification and and visualness, I guess, if that's a word, um, are important. And so I would like to see it be as simple as possible because it's incredibly complicated to navigate as a developer, as a builder, as a citizen. Um I don't think it's any surprise and and I don't say this um in any derogatory manner towards the county staff or anybody. Um Douglas County is one of the most challenging jurisdictions in the entire state in which to do development. Um, and so I'm I'm really looking forward to the changes with Opal, um, with the updates to Title 20. Um, and hopefully that will, as Commissioner Waller alluded, hopefully it'll speed up the process and this will be a more friendly place to work. Not friendly people, but a friendly process. Um, I also echo um that the survey and and the community outreach, those are all great. I think if we haven't reached out um to industry associations, architects and engineers associations, development associations, general contractors, the homebuilders, those type of folks, um if there's a way that we can do that because I think they're critical stakeholders in this and they will have some very important feedback uh in the process. Um and so to the extent that we can do that beyond just kind of the normal advertising I think it would be helpful. Uh and then finally going digital is going to be critical

and the ability to search within the document. Um just the ability to just go right in, type in keywords and boom, you're there. And so I think I think that will be helpful as well. But this is a great start. Um, one of the biggest disappointments I have in leaving is that I didn't get a chance to be part of this process. But I I will be sharing my my comments um as a non-planning commissioner. Um, and I look forward to this document coming to life because it's it's long overdue. Not because you haven't wanted to, um, just because of of time. And so, uh, thank you again for for all the work that you've done so far and and I just really encourage that that that outreach to industry is important. Both uh Commissioner Walder and Commissioner Clutz have uh touched upon something that I find very important particularly uh and more explicitly with Commissioner Walders's comments is that the growth management report that we generally get has uh statistics the number available the number have been used so far the number that are to be uh used that are already entitled keeping in mind that this Title 20 and the changes therein uh particularly making it clear or changing or modifying as as you had uh a number of categories that might be eliminated and things of this nature are all going to be reflect and have to be accommodated with the growth management ordinance. So that would be important to make sure that uh densities are not overlooked things of this nature as we go forward so we don't violate growth management order while at the same time we have the improvements in

title 20. So thank you very much for your very cogent uh comments gentlemen if if I may. Yes.

Um Kate Moros O'Neal for the record. Um thank you uh member Walder and member Klutz. I just am going to respond. Um Bryce, I know you are leaving us, but um I have talked to some developers and and um if I may, you may be a good point person to help me facilitate help us facilitate a meeting with such stakeholders. And with your expertise on that that side of the fence, I think you might be really helpful um in reaching out and facilitating. So, I will ask that you might be able to retire, but I'm going to still drag you into this process because it is a good idea and we have talked to developers and we have had, you know, comments done. Um, I know we are working um internally on some staff meetings also with um with builders and developers. Um, but I think that that is a a a something that I will reach out to you. Um, also, uh, member Walder, you mentioned Tahoe. Um, so currently, concurrently with this, um, we're working on the Tahoe Douglas area plan. Um, so right now it it was tricky because at first, um, well, basically the Tahoe Douglas area plan is going to incorporate the existing plan area statements and the Roundill community area plan. So or community plan, not area plan. So right now we're just going to consolidate the table, make those um more easy to understand, a more you um user friendly table, but the changes for the TAP, it's almost going to be concurrent. I don't think the TAP with everything else going on with short staff, we're going to get through the Teddap until early next year. I'm just being realistic because with public

feedback and making sure we get it right in all the meetings and so on and so forth. It's just it would behoove us, you know, to slow down that process, make sure that, you know, when we're doing this so that the code will probably be adopted and then we'll have to go back once the TAP is is um gets through the process that at that time we would update title 20 then then it probably be the first update to the new code. But I imagine will be the TDAP and where we've gone on with with that. So I just wanted to clarify for you what was happening w with that. Thank you Kate. Uh Commissioner McCulla.

Um and I won't repeat everything everyone said. I think a lot of good comments were made. I I particularly like the idea that though we certainly want to consider everybody's comments, people who use this the most, those are the comments that I think are the most important. I have added one room to my house. I'm not a developer. I'm not a builder. Yeah, I have some opinions, but that's not the same per se as somebody who's going to use this all the time. who's really going to be gain from from the work you're doing. U I particularly love the U consolidated land use table, the old one, the new one. This is great. This is the kind of thing that makes this easier for people like us on boards to be able to look at something and see it really easily. So, I really appreciate that. And with that, um I think some of the other comments have been made. that I totally agree with. So, I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Thank you for your work, Commissioner St. Jeene.

All right. I was kind of going in line here and then I got Anyway, sleep frog. It's uh it's easier for me because I'm so linear.

Thank you, chairman. Um I am absolutely overwhelmed. I think this is so positive. I think you know the direction you're going is is much needed and I think when we look at other organizations that we consider maybe ahead of us in terms of staffing and size and where they are on the progression of these things. That's what we're looking at. We're looking at just a better documents, better information, better easier to use. So much clearer. I I I echo the comments that were just made. You know, the table is a perfect example of how how this is so positive, much clearer. Um great process improvement and probably well needed. I mean, in terms of, you know, we should have done it yesterday. Um my second comment has to do with u absolute agreement in getting the right input. And you know as you know I I spent a great deal of my career in public life and also as a consultant. in fact working with some of your consulting firms or even with your consulting firm. But u and I always found that when we when when when an organization like a local government, state government, regional government got into these kinds of things, they they did get the that community that uses it the most. Just like James said, that community that uses the most, their representatives, whether it be from your own consulting firms or your your peer consulting firms or the APA or the ASCE or, you know, there are professionals out there that know a lot a lot about this and to get their input is so valuable. I think it's great that you're you're asking the

general public. Uh but I too would probably put more emphasis on the input received from those that use it the most, that know it the most, that know how it works in other organizations, in other areas, and so forth. Um and and and to vice chair uh the vice chair's comment about definitions. I it just came up with the discussion of TRPA and the use of all their their special and I forget what they are. They got a master plan. They got special area plans. They got this plan, that plan. And so it's easy to think, oh, I hear a term and it's a a Tahoe TRPA term, not a Douglas County term. I think it would be easy as you're doing the definitions to go, well, what what do other agencies call this kind of an aka also known as this in TRPA? And I I can maybe the issue of of hard coverage versus TRPA coverage and things like that might be an example where where the terms can get confusing and I think your definitions could help that. But seriously, um I do agree with the other comments there. Uh there's an old saying about perfection is the enemy of the good. And I think you are well on the way to being very good. And I would hate to have uh the idea that we have to do everything now. We have to introduce all the new ideas now. We have to make all the changes now because my fear is that is going to delay the most important thing which I think the chairman mentioned about what is our goal. Our goal is to make a simpler, better, easier to use document. And therefore that brings me to my third question which is your page uh 79 accessory rural event venue. As you know

we heard this two two months ago we had 50 people I think we had over 20 commenters. We had 50 letters. I mean, we had a lot of people that didn't like that. And as you know, we we we were split on it as a board. And it seems to me that that's an example of introducing something new where many of us don't really know why we would do that. I mean, I don't see the need in it. Maybe you do. Obviously, you do because you're you're you're suggesting it. But I would hate to have something like that derail this process. It's like why are we doing that? And of course my question is going to be at some point why are you doing it? Who's asking for it? Certainly not those hundred people that commented the last time it came in front of us. And I would I would also ask um what's I mean we considered it. It's allowed. Why are we doing something that's already allowed when most of what we are doing is a reformatting, simplification, rewriting, not adding new stuff. And I would just caution you to not add new stuff that you know is going to be controversial with with some people uh because I would hate to have this process delayed or derailed because of something like that. Again, perfection is the enemy of the good. and maybe you want to go for a perfect document whereas that's going to take a long time to get whereas we really need just a really good document which you are well on the track to do and and my you know I mean I I made no secret of the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the transfer of development rights as it's currently working today. I'm a great fan of the benefit it's done for the county when it was first introduced. No question. But I've made my comments on

that before and I would hate to see personally you spend a lot of time on it. You know, granted, you got to fit it into the new format. It is part of our ordinance. Uh but I would hate to see a lot of new time spent on changes to it. Again, my comment, same comment with the accessory rural uh event venue is I I would hate to see a lot of time spent on trying to change those items as opposed to let's get this thing done. You got more than a great start. We love what you're doing, but let's not derail it by trying to introduce new things that could be either not needed or controversial. Um, but yeah, you guys are doing a great job. I can't wait to see the finished product. I I think we just got an update where we could go online and look at where you're at today. So, I'm looking forward to doing that. I I I reviewed everything in the agenda and I was really u you know really psyched on what you're doing. So, keep keep up the great work. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh Commissioner St. John, Commissioner Low. Yes. Thank you, Chair. Um I I just cannot say enough what a wonderful job you guys are doing on this. It is so much clearer, so much more understandable. Really love the format. Um I have a couple comments um that I want to share with you. First, um there's two separate definition sections and I'm wondering why we need two separate definition sections. Is uh do you is there a process reason behind that or are you talking about the current code or the proposed new the proposed code?

The proposed code. Um are you talking about the flood plane definitions or the so flood plane definitions are with flood plane management and then there's land use definitions and measurements. You've got land land use definitions and then I guess development definitions, process definitions. Why why are we separating those?

So the intent here is that land use definitions are for a specific use that's allowed within Douglas code. So if you go to your land use table, you see a definition that is related to a use that is allowed in a certain zoning district. Now measurements um definitions for construction, things like that, items that you're not going to see in a land use table, those were pulled out. If you're wondering how something is defined or how something is measured, those were pulled out for that. Now, if the commission doesn't like that, we're here for feedback, right? I just I find it confusing honestly um because I'm looking for some definitions and I can't find them because I'm in the wrong section.

So I I don't know if there's a benefit of combining them just so that everything is alphabet alphabetized um or leaving them separate. If you find that um leaving them separate is easier for the user, the staff and the and the developers, then that I have no problem with. I just personally I had a hard time going through the two separate definitions that are pretty much back to back.

Yeah, I I can I can see your point there. Um again, this is Ann Marie Lane. I think um one of the benefits of keeping them separate is that again focusing on that land use specific. So if you're wanting to know, hey, can I have cannabis establishment on my parcel? What is that definition? I know it's a use that I'm looking for as opposed to um construction measurement. Still find it. I can get why it can be Yeah. And I guess

challenging. Yeah. the the definitions also there needs to be and I'm going to say this um with a lot of respect here because I I have done this job before okay so I have undertaken this it is the toughest job that I have ever done trying to be consistent and clear um the definitions really need to be evaluated um for instance the definition of balloon is it's an inflatable device it's not defined as an inflatable device and there's no definition of an inflatable device. So, it's, you know, you've got some definitions in there that that aren't meaningful at this point. Um, same with some of the um the use table. Some of these uses are I know from from when I was doing planning that they're carryovers from who knows when we started using these terms and these processes for these land uses. So I'm going to use some some examples but uh and maybe you have a good reason for these to be in there but I think they're antiquated and they probably should change. So, a boarding house. We don't have boarding houses anymore. I don't know the last community I was in that had a boarding house. We have um agricultural worker housing. We have other types of housing that's congregate housing, but it it's not a boarding house. Um so, let's look at what we have and why we're carrying it forward. Um, another I another comment I have is the uses that are permitted for the A19 and the F19 and F40. There's residential uses in there, but not all the residential um types of accessories or other uses are permitted.

You can't have a household pet. They're not permitted. You can't have a home occupation. It's not permitted. So, there's got to be this common sense going through all that stuff. Does it make sense to have these carry forward these things that were in the old code into the new one? And I I know that you guys know that some of this stuff doesn't make sense. It's just that's what it was. Let's pull it back and put it where it was. But now we now it's time to go back through and say, does it still make sense to be there? Okay. Um, uh, you know, and I don't want to I don't want it to sound like I'm being negative or anything about this, but it's just this is how I did it, and I know you guys can do better than I did. So, um, come back through and take a look at what what it is in here and why why was it there and does it still belong. Okay. And sort of the same idea with um vice chair um the idea that there might be some uses and terminologies now that are prevalent elsewhere that we're we have not caught up with that was need to maybe be pulled forward. Um let's see. And I I totally agree with the idea of talking to the users and getting their feedback and their input on the code. But what I want to make sure we do and make it very clear to the community is that we're asking their input on functionality and clarity and not so much on standards. We don't want our code-driven so that development can occur at the expense of our existing community and quality of life. So we are looking for them to give

us the feedback on does the process make sense? Does the language make sense? Does the the definitions make sense? All of that and not so much well we don't we want different lot sizes. We want, you know, things that that make their profit margin higher. So, we want that to be clear that they need to be consulted. Absolutely. They're the ones that use the code, but not at the expense of our community. Um, I think that's kind of the overall um big comments I have today. I do want to jump forward to I think it was section 8 design standards. I think clear design standards are going to be the most helpful thing we can do in this code. Clear, clear, clear. This is what we expect from you as a developer, as you as a community um uh member, someone a resident, these are the things that we expect of you and it's in the code and it's clear. And I think those are the things that are going to really make this code um so much easier and so much more effective than what we have today. So thank you so much for everything that you guys have done so far.

Thank you Commissioner Lyle, Commissioner Cluts, any comment? Commissioner Woulder, you did a vice chairman.

Love it. I absolutely loved it. We Bryce, we start talking about tit title 20 what six years to go and here it is. We're on a roll and I'm very excited. Thank you. You've done wonderful work. I agree, agree, agree, agree. Outreach to the industry is more important than outreach to the general public because the general public will use this once in a while. I know that I tried to find standards on fences. Kate told me, "Type intrlf, you'll get fences." And I could not find fences. Hitting control F. I couldn't get anything. So I found, you know, historic district and that's what I got. So clarity, easy to use, we're gonna have it and I'm very excited about that. So I think tailoring it and the comments and all that the industry is where we want to focus. Love the comments from the general public. RVs seem to be a hot topic and outbuildings. Why can he have one and I can't? I think that's very important to clarify that at at meetings. But I was impressed at how many people responded and just the general angst in the community. But those are policy issues and they're not for us. And that's something that hopefully will come up when you have the meeting at the board of commissioners that they can address. I'm encouraged by the people who want to talk about dark skies and those are items that'll come up under the design standards. So, I'm very

looking forward to those chapters. What's that? Chapter 8. Looking forward to those discussions later on. Uh, as far as growth management goes, I'm looking forward to that. We talked about it last year asking to review and make recommendations to the BOCC if necessary. As far as I'm concerned, title 20 has top priority and that can wait and the area plan has top priority as well. So, this can wait until the end of next year. The growth management stuff, I'm not in a hurry. It's not going anywhere. and then uh a clear explanation whether it's in title 20 or in the master plan next year a clear explanation wherever it's appropriate on the relationship between Douglas County and TRPA because people do not understand the relationship on what our authority is and what TRPA's authority is and I think we need to have it big and bold so that people can they can blame TRPA they can blame us or they know where to direct their questions. I think that's very critical and I think that uh let's see I I respectfully disagree about uh adding adding stuff that might be controversial controversial because title 20 should not reflect our personal preferences. It should have all the information about things that happen in the county that require development standards. And whether or not I like something or

Lori likes something or dislike something, that shouldn't matter. We need to put everything in title 20 that could happen or would happen or will happen. As much as we have, we need to put in there clearly and precisely so people know where to go to find the answers. And as far as definitions, I think we need to have a definition for boarding house. People look for boarding houses. They may not be up to the jargon. And that's one of the things I'm talking about. Someone will go, "Oh, where can I find the definition for a boarding house or information regarding boarding houses, they may not think uh congregate care, but they'll think boarding house." And I think it's an inclusive term. And those are the types of terms, whether they're new fangled terms, current jargon, or a little older jargon. We need to be cognizant of those types of things. But there may be some that are outdated, but not completely outdated that we have to throw them out. But we do need to be cognizant of what are appropriate terms. I do like your comments, Lori, about looking at the tables, giving them one last last look to say, "Okay, well, maybe we can change this little box." Love the boxes, Kate. They did it for you. Just for you. But anyway, those are my comments. I think I covered them all. And again, kudos. I'm really excited about seeing it when it's all done. We did have a lot of red lines with the master plan when it came through the last time and we did have a lot of red lines when the VHR ordinance came through each and every time. We know how to work around them and um I'll go on the website and see what I can do with what you have. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments. Thank you very much staff. U you've just gotten seven different opinions

with seven different directions. Oh no, I've I've added mine. I'm not going to take up everybody's time and I'm going to put them on uh the ones that I see fit that you may think are ridiculous and you're welcome to do so uh and uh discard or ignore, but uh I will do it in that fashion so as not to take up our time since we've discussed them anyway tangentially. But thank you very much. It clearly was a tremendous herculean effort and uh this is the same type of effort that can end up with a very very successful title 20, a very successful growth ordinance uh uh conjunction with title 20 and as we move forward uh with something that uh Commissioner Walder and my favorite uh something in the Tahoe area that will also be equally consistent So, thanks so much. Do you have any questions of us?

I had a quick comment. Um, Andrea Pauling for the record again. I heard a unanimous feedback on really reaching out to our frequent flyers that use the code. And I I want to let you know that that's kind of where we started. uh last year in April, we did send out um well, I personally sent out an email and uh you know, a link to a survey just to get get the ball rolling and get feedback. Nothing specific, but to get feedback and so we did start with that and we're going to continue through the process. Um I I understand your guys's comments. For us, everything's important and high priority. I can't really um I don't like to grade it or put it on a list. Um, but I think getting getting that feedback is very important from those that frequently use the code and we did start out with that and we're going to continue to do that throughout the process. Just want to make sure I get that out there. Uh, Kate Moris O'Neal for the record. Thank you all for your your comments and your I mean I there wasn't um there wasn't a bad one I heard. So we we appreciate all of them. Um it is extremely challenging as you can imagine. Um, I I think that uh throughout the process your your continued input, you know, I think of um member Lyle, I think of you, you know, specifics would be great things that you think of, you know, cuz we can go through the use table and I'm thinking, oh, maybe maybe we don't use this and you're like, Kate, that's not the one I was talking about. Like this is so like as specific as you can get with your examples will really will really help us too. And um so it's it's it's a fun process. I mean, I think this is something to we all enjoy working on because we know what this is going to do for the county. It's just going to be um to your comment, um member Bryce, it's

it's the developers and that permitting process. I've I've been through that, right? And I get those phone calls and why why is it taking so long? Well, you've had two rounds of con corrections required and we haven't heard back from you. And so, it's it's the streamlining and making sure we're capturing things early on. Um maybe more concurrent applications at the same time instead of waiting for one to get the other. You know, really trying to to limit um not limit what's required, but just limiting and simplifying the process. How do I how do I submit to my application? How do I get to the finish line? So, um again, I I did submit an application. It was so user friendly. So, just in that regard, just that step, doing an application, I think is going to be a lot simpler. I I I can only speak to from the planning side um that we've had plenty of new applications and I haven't heard one, you know, complaint that, hey, I didn't know how to do the application. I mean, it prompts you, here's the documents you need. you don't have to go to a sheet and look at a column and see what you need to provide. So it's it's really um going in the right direction. Uh the last thing I wanted to say was so this is what so you talked about staff member Walder you talked about you know the staff input um because we did one two and three I have my planning staff looking at the articles especially article three um to now start getting indepth feedback from staff because truly this has been us three Tom and Sherry that have done this um we've got you know so now it's like Okay, staff. Now, now here's your section. Here's your expertise. Now, dive into it because I know planning since I've been here, we've been creating folders and hey, when you see something, catch it. Write it down

because we're going to be doing the code. I know code enforcement, um, Ernie Stray and his staff have comments and things for code and what they want. So, that process is always also starting. It's just we needed to start here. We need some feedback. Um but now like I said, planning staff is currently has been looking at the last month um for article three specifically um for their comments and feedbacks on on things like use tables or things that we've missed or um because again we haven't do dove into it line by line. Um it's just waiting on that feedback and then getting it from our staff too. So I just wanted to make sure you understood that. Thank you very much. With that, we conclude the second item on our agenda. I'd like to now um indicate that public comment will be taken on items that are within the jurisdiction and control of the planning commission or those agenda items where public comment has not already been taken. There will be one other item after this uh which I alluded to and Mr. pardon me. Chairman uh Gardner uh spoke to, but let's have public comment.

Good afternoon, Ellie Waller. I appreciate the magnitude of the undertaking of this immense amount of information. Uh with that said, I've attended both workshops and it was confusing in the beginning. It's getting better at every meeting that the public or anybody should be inputting online. Um that is the best way to capture this. It then allows staff to see what they've already captured and what is new. Um trying to go to the topic uh that was brought up the rural event venue. Um there are people that I live in a subdivision of 2acre lots. I will go online with all my comments but not everybody has been covered on these kinds of things and I'm not sure how that word gets out. The use of the current code and new outline design uh is still somewhat confusing as a user. The zoning review procedures in blue, the color coding is great. It makes it simple. Wasn't clear if the review procedures for zoning are going to applications and procedures in nine. Um that's just a comment. Definitions are essential. People want to understand what is being developed and how those definitions work. Here in the valley, I couldn't find anything and again I will put all of this online. um memory care or assisted living facilities as they're cropping up more often and those

definitions and where they're properly uh used in commercial or can they be in an industrial area. Um needs to go into this process. Of course, Tahoe centric. Um I appreciate Mr. Wilder that you live in Tahoe and the definitions in Tahoe um are very different than here. And maybe the suggestion is even though we want all definitions in one massive section, maybe the Taho section should have its own definition list and then in the whatever format you use in context or in a table of contents, refer to article five. My only other thing is I'm not sure that the Tahoe people understand or are reached out to to know May 27th is the date for them to come make some initial comments and I would ask that somehow we highlight that in social media media or the newspaper. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Waller. Uh that may be a a good idea for the next meeting, ma'am. Uh, Andrea, Pauling for the record. Uh, this does go out on social media. Uh, this next public, uh, workshop, May 27th, will go out next week. We like to do it a month in advance. And so, it'll be a press release. It'll be in the paper. It'll be on social media. Um, our PIO, uh, who's awesome, he will also send it out two weeks in advance and usually the week of. So, and it goes out to to everyone in Douglas County, including Tahoe. including Tahoe. Commissioner Waller, any further uh public comment before I adjourn the meeting, I want to recognize a uh long-term um commissioner of this uh planning commission and uh indicate what a tremendous asset and uh how much he will be missed with respect to his analysis, his very succinct commentary and is always uh on point um issues and suggestions. I hand the uh the um entire dis over to uh Commissioner Clutz and please uh take your time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I didn't want to be all over the place today, so I wrote this down. Um, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that today will be my last day as a Douglas County Planning Commissioner. I have loved every part of serving on this commission. However, my family and business need my full attention, and I can no longer serve in the manner that I expect of this position. When I was appointed to this commission in December of 2019, I committed to the citizens of this community that I would do my part to ensure that the master plan was adhered to, that our rural and agricultural heritage was preserved, and that growth was managed appropriately and in a sustainable manner, and I believe I have done that. I prepared myself for every meeting and did not finalize my position until every presentation was complete and the applicant in the community's voices were heard. I'm proud of the work that we did on the master plan in 2020. And although disappointed that I won't be here to participate in the updating of Title 20, I know that my colleagues and county staff have the best of intentions in updating and reforming this code. I'm grateful to the members of this community who showed up and invoked their civil liberty to address topics that matter deeply to them. You always treated me with a high level of respect and kindness, and I hope you felt I did the same in return. I want to thank the county commissioners who appointed me and supported me along the way. Chairman Gardner, Vice Chairman Tolbert, Commissioner Hails, and Commissioner Rice. I hope your trust in me pro proved valuable to this community. I want to thank and acknowledge the incredible staff who are always there to answer any questions came to the meetings prepared and I felt always balanced the best interest of the community in the county in their recommendation process. Thank you, Tom

Delair, Andrea Pauline, AJ Hayes, Kate Morales O'Neal, Lucille Reo, Ernie Stlo, Linda Doherty, Colleen, Thran, Zapeda, Nikki Leaper, Amber Lane, and all community development staff behind the scenes for your dedication to this community and your support of me over the years. To my colleagues, Chairman Bruno, thank you for your service to this commission and for your empathetic leadership. I've learned a lot during your time on the commission and feel like with the new vocabulary I have acquired, I may just be a couple courses away from my law degree. It's been a pleasure getting to know you, sir. Madame Vice Chair Casey, thank you for the many years you have unselfishly served the communities you've lived in. Your public service is admirable. Thank you for your friendship and the way you always treated me. Even when we had differing positions on an issue, you have been a mentor and I'm grateful for your trust. Commissioner Walder, thank you for your many years on this commission and the many more years of public service. Thank you for always coming extremely prepared for every meeting and always being there to answer my questions. From the moment I joined this commission, I paid close attention to the level of detail in which you prepared, the kindness you showed staff, and the methodical way in which you reached your decisions. It forced me to be better, and I appreciate it. Commissioner Lyall, thank you as well for your years of public service. I value the gentle way you approach every meeting. You are always prepared and listen to all stakeholders before reaching a decision. You have been a pleasure to serve with and I know the county is in good hands knowing that you

will consistently research and prepare for every meeting. Commissioner Macall, it was a pleasure serving with you. I always felt comfortable coming into each meeting knowing that first and foremost you cared about this community and therefore your decisions and statements reflected that. Commissioner St. John, unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time together. However, I always valued the technical approach you brought to each meeting. Your knowledge of planning and engineering provided balance on the commission, offering different perspectives and insights that we all benefited from. In a world filled with anger and disdain, this commission has always represented civility and respect. We we have not always come to the same conclusion on a matter, but in my time here. The other position was always respected and heard, this commission has given me hope that despite what the media may say, most people are good, well intended, and want to leave a positive impact on their community, state, or country. Maybe our representatives at the state and federal level should take some notes from communities such as this. It has been a true honor to serve this community where I live and raised my children. I may no longer be serving in this capacity, but I still plan to be engaged and offer whatever I can to continue to make a positive impact. Thank you. Thank you. And now uh it's time to adjourn this meeting on Okay,

Bryce, I stand corrected. You sit corrected.

Sit corrected. I've known you for six and a half years, and I knew you were special when you and I bonded over the master plan and fought so vigorously for the importance of trade schools and trade education over technical education. and that our time together on the planning commission would be very very special and we have buted heads and but it's always been respectful. It's been a lot of fun and with you leaving you're the last question three person besides me. Do trust me to still be here and be the lone strong voice for open space on this commission. I will try to do you proud and carry your voice for the trades and for open space and not blubber all over the ideas and know that I love you as a friend and I will carry you in my heart and please don't disappear. Thank you.

Thank you vice chair. Um, I am usually uh extremely stoic in uh situations such as this or any other situation. Uh, but I may have um in in my thinking about losing a valued member of this commission failed to offer the public an opportunity to talk about or comment on item two, which was the title 20 changes. I went straight to closing comment. Are there any comments about um what we had said or the opinions of the seven? Yes, ma'am. Thank you again, uh Ellie Waller. I think I made most of my comments as the closing public comment, but as part of the process, it's not clear if design criteria and improvement standards are actually getting updated or not and where in the process of the master plan or wherever that needs to be. And again, I'll put all of this online. I think it's crystal clear. And I do appreciate that upcoming meetings there are people that just don't go online. Uh I hate to call us a a senior community, but a lot of people rather put things in writing and that opportunity to do that at meetings is imperative. I have a lot of people ask me just to do it for them. And so the staff may see a lot of comments from Ellie, but they're coming from other people um because they don't attend meetings. So I just wanted that to be clear. And since I'm up here, I'd also like to thank our new DA for being

at many, many of the meetings I've been going to. It's very nice to see somebody that's engaging at a level to better understand you as commissioners, staff, and the members of the public. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Is there any other further public comment on item two? All right, we've had our closing public comment. I uh also want to say and reflect the commentary of many of the uh commissioners, especially uh our vice chair, and say uh the best of fortunes to you, Rice Cludes. Thank you very much. Uh this meeting is adjourned.