Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, May 16, to approve a number of ordinances and contracts for city projects and update portions of the city’s Municipal Code.
Mayor Barbara Bynum and councilors Dave Frank, Doug Glaspell, David Reed, and Ed Ulibarri met in the City Council Chambers at the Elks Civic Building along with city staff.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUTH CITY COUNCIL MAYOR GRACE HOTSENPILLER
Mayor Barbara Bynum recognized the service of Montrose Youth City Council Mayor Grace Hotsenpiller. Bynum complimented Hotsenpiller for her “interesting, articulate, and well thought out comments” while participating in meetings with City Council during her three years on the Youth City Council and presented her with an Outstand Leadership Award.
CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public offered any public comment.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 2 regular City Council meeting.
The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found on the new Public Meetings Portal and at www.CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
ORDINANCE 2625 — SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2625, on second reading, to clarify portions of the City Charter.
Assistant City Attorney Matt Magliaro said the proposed ordinance states: “The following of Article I Governmental Powers and Legislative Officials, Section 7 of the Official Charter of the City of Montrose, Colorado, is hereby clarified pursuant to Article X, Section 3 of the Charter to insert a usage footnote intended to guide a reviewing court of competent jurisdiction, to read in full as follows:
“FN1 Standards of Interpretation: If any provision of the language of this section is subjected to challenge before a court of competent jurisdiction, the canon of constitutional avoidance to interpret the language of this section for harmony and constituency with all parts of the Constitution of the State of Colorado may be used without a predicate finding of ambiguity.”
Magliaro said changing the City Charter requires a vote of the people through a local municipal election. This ordinance simply cleans up portions of the Charter.
ORDINANCE 2626 — SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2626, on second reading, which would repeal provisions relating to the Planning Commission and land development, repeal certain chapters of the Montrose Regulations Manual relating to land development, and adopt a new title, XI - Land Development Regulations, for the City of Montrose.
Planning Manager Jace Hochwalt said the purpose of the proposed code amendments is to consolidate the existing land use code into one title, eliminate redundancies, and modernize for clarity and readability.
WOODS CROSSING AMENDED PRELIMINARY PLAT
City Councilors voted unanimously, with Councilor David Reed abstaining, to approve the Woods Crossing Amended Preliminary Plat.
City Planner William Reis said the Woods Crossing Amended Preliminary Plat will amend the remaining portions of the Woods Crossing Subdivision that have not yet been final platted. The previously approved Woods Crossing Final Plat #1 left some unbuilt outlets.
The amendment proposes the creation of a 9.15-acre lot on the southeast corner of Hill Street and Sunnyside Road. The proposal also creates minor adjustments to the remaining residential lots to the east, as well as a proposed new connection to Sunnyside Road. The amendments to the road network require the renaming of the previously dedicated Big Pines Loop (proposed to be renamed Big Pines Drive and Falcon Drive). The property is bordered on the south by a previous filing of the Woods Crossing Subdivision, on the north by Sunnyside Road, and on the west and east (county parcels) by agricultural fields and single-family homes. The property is zoned “R-2” Low-Density District on the eastern side, and “R-3A” Medium High-Density District on the western side. This amended plat application consists of 108 lots.
Applicant: Matt Miles, Leadership Circle, LLC
ORDINANCE 2627 — FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the Air Park Way Rezone located at 2370 Air Park Way.
Planning Manager Jace Hochwalt said the applicant is proposing to rezone a portion of the property at 2370 Air Park Way, totaling approximately 0.14 acres, from I-2 (General Industrial) to B-3 (General Commercial). The property owner just completed a boundary line adjustment with the neighboring property to the west and, to avoid having any parcels split-zoned, a rezone is proposed so that each lot has a clearly distinguished zoning boundary. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning request at their April 26 meeting.
Applicant: S&J Development, LLC.
STAFF REPORTS
Finance Director Shani Wittenberg delivered the sales, use, and excise tax report for March 2023.
Wittenberg also presented to the council a first-quarter review of the city’s 2023 operating budget.
Read the reports in their entirety here.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
Doug Glaspell said recent media coverage regarding the city’s ongoing street repairs was well received.
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All City Council meetings are recorded and made available online via the city’s website and cable channels 191 for Charter subscribers and 970 for Elevate subscribers. Replays of council meetings are also broadcast at 6 p.m. on the same channels on days that the council is not in session.
In addition, each regular meeting is archived on the City of Montrose’s YouTube channel.
Residents can watch all regular City Council meetings and work sessions on-demand through the city’s Public Meetings Portal.