We're back with an Open House

As you might remember, in December 2023, City Commission paused the Wetland Code Update project to allow for more public engagement and an expanded scope of the project. As we resume this project, we're kicking off with an open house to gather input on March 27 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Center in the Community Room. The meeting will begin with a presentation followed by breakout Q&A discussion. Take a look on the right sidebar to learn about the projected timeline for the project.

Some background on the project to get you up-to-speed.

In 2022, City Commission set a Commission Priority to enhance local mitigation of wetland impacts through support for creation of a local Wetland Bank. Sacajawea Audubon Society (SAS) was in the process of creating a wetland bank on the east side of town, therefore staff’s approach to meeting this priority was to assist the creation of the bank through review and permitting and follow that with an update to our Wetland Code that would achieve the goal of directing more local mitigation of impacts to said bank.

City staff brought a final draft of the proposed code update through public engagement, advisory board review, and ultimately Commission adoption in December 2023. While Commission expressed appreciation of the work completed, they ultimately chose to pause adoption of the proposed code revision after hearing public interest in expanding the scope of the project to include additional focus on avoiding and minimizing wetland impacts.

The city intends to bring updates to Wetland and Watercourse sections on the Unified Development Code in June 2025, ahead of the city’s ongoing project to broadly revise the UDC.