Code Studio updated Grand Junction’s zoning and development code. The project ran in tandem with the development of the City’s first comprehensive plan. An initial critique of the existing code showed it was internally inconsistent, complex and outdated. The code also failed to implement the City’s adopted plans, as well as the principles emerging from the new comprehensive plan, which include concentrated urban centers, a sustainable growth pattern and a grand green system. In addition to implementing the principles of the new comprehensive plan, the code was modernized into a user-friendly document.

A major problem of the code identified by staff, developers and citizens was the City’s development review process. Code Studio worked with staff and a focus group to reduce the length of time to obtain subdivision approvals and eliminate the lack of predictability. As a result, the updated code includes the public earlier in the review process, and shifts administrative decisions from council to staff.

Specific improvements to the code include simplifying existing districts; modifying
maximum height and parking ratios downtown; reducing the burden on property owners of nonconforming uses; adding outdoor lighting standards to preserve and protect the nighttime sky; and reducing the number of special use permits with use-specific standards.