Changes to Development Code

My first three weeks in office have been a whirlwind of activity, getting settled in and keeping pace with the demands of an active city. The City Council, Planning Commission, staff, and I have wasted no time getting right to work on some difficult issues. The City Council recently approved a Ridgeline Protection Ordinance. This needed to be done to protect our scenic hilltops from development. Tonight the Planning Commission will be addressing proposed improvements to development codes that will add more protection to our hillsides. Once through Planning Commission it will move on to City Council. The City Council in a special session last night approved agreements with Goldsworth Real Estate, Inc. and Shupe Builders, LLC to address issues related to both companies’ excavation processes during development in the Skyline Ridge and Kiowa Valley areas of the city. The final approved agreements specifically address processing and limited removal of materials from a development site by a specified date. The use of blasting in the excavating process will continue to be evaluated by City officials and staff and additional proposed changes to code will be forthcoming. It should be noted that these agreements are for a finite period of time to address current concerns brought forward by residents. Additional development is planned for the area and any future excavation will need to meet the City’s recently updated code regarding blasting and processing of materials. The agreements are in the process of being finalized and once final copies are available, will be posted on the City website, in the News section. Related to these concerns, the City hired an independent engineering firm to assess potential impacts of the blasting to the area. We are in the process of receiving information from this assessment and will be analyzing the data to understand exactly what it means and how to best use that information going forward with enforcement of our new and existing code. I appreciate the input we have received from residents through this process and their patience as we’ve worked to address these issues. I want to thank City Staff and the City Council for their dedication, and the residents who met with us during this special session on a late Monday night. Mayor Tom Westmoreland