The Lander Planning Commission presented several proposed changes to the municipal Title 4 Zoning Code during a Lander City Council work session last month.
The recommendations were developed to align with the housing priorities identified in the city’s 2012 Master Plan, Planning Commission Member Kara Colovich said, including:
-encouraging infill development
-promoting graduated densities and intensities of development, with the highest density downtown and the lowest density at the edge of the planning area
-protecting established residential neighborhoods from incompatible development
-expanding opportunities for workforce, senior, and first-time home buyer housing
-allowing small-scale, well-designed, multi-family housing in more areas of the city
Housing need
The Planning Commission also assessed the existing housing need in Lander as it developed the recommendations, Colovich said, using data from the Wyoming Community Development Authority comparing local statistics from 2010 and 2021.
During that timeframe, Colovich said, Lander’s population grew by 3 percent, and the stock of available housing decreased by 1 percent – numbers that don’t represent “much change.”
Local “housing needs” have changed over the past 10 years however, Colovich said, pointing to the increasing “burden” of housing costs on local residents based on income.
The WCDA assessment showed that, in 2010, only 5 percent of Lander residents were paying 50 percent or more of their income toward housing, Colovich said, but by 2021 that number had more than doubled, to 11 percent of local residents paying 50 percent or more of their income toward housing.
Most of that increased cost burden was felt by renters, Colovich noted, referring to market trends that showed that, in 2010, most local renters – 54 percent – paid $350 to $800 per month on housing, while only 20 percent paid $1,000 to $1,500 per month.
The numbers had flipped by 2021, when the percentage of renters paying $350 to $800 per month had fallen to 32 percent, and the percentage of renters paying $1,000 to $1,500 per month had more than doubled, to 43 percent.
Councilmember Missy White called the increase in rents “astonishing.”
“I think it’s important for us to look at what … these rental prices mean, (and) who’s actually able to afford that,” she said. “After they pay rent, many of our neighbors and constituents are trying to figure out, ‘Do I pay for my medicines, or do I have just one meal a day?’ … That’s what it means to be cost-burdened. (To) me, that is a crying shame, and I hope we can really move forward to address that.”
Recommendations
The Planning Commission drew on prior housing studies as it developed its recommendations, Colovich said, including:
-a 2023 collaboration between Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon’s Task Force on Housing Opportunity and the Harvard Growth Lab looking at “constraints and solutions” to housing issues in the state
-a 2020 Wyoming Business Alliance-funded study of local zoning codes throughout the state and their alignment with Wyoming housing goals
-a 2020 Lander code audit, which was conducted by the same contractor that completed the WBC study
Colovich said the Lander code audit recommended:
-allowing accessory dwelling units in all zones
-allowing homes on smaller lots in the same zones
-allowing cottage cluster housing in some zones
-providing opportunities for a wider range of housing types in some zones
-applying building form standards to ensure new housing is compatible with existing housing
-providing flexibility for accommodating parking with new housing
The Planning Commission’s current proposal for changes to the local zoning code “tie back” to some of those recommendations from 2020, Colovich said, while others will be left to be considered further in the future.
In R-1 – the least-dense zone in the city – Planning Commission Member Zach Mahlum said the current proposed changes “aren’t particularly drastic” and mainly involve “adjusting the setback lines for front, rear and side setbacks” to align with the International Building code.
The Planning Commission also recommends “increasing the proposed height allowance” from 30 feet to 35 feet in R-1, Mahlum said, pointing to “a number of structures” in that zone that “are quite a bit higher” than the current limit.
“We wanted to essentially strike a balance between what actually exists and what (limits) we have now, with an eye to trying to create more opportunities for developers to create larger structures,” he said.
In R2, Mahlum said the Planning Commission recommended “the most glaring changes” to local zoning codes, proposing a maximum of four dwelling units and two residential structures per lot.
“So you could potentially have two separate structures with two dwelling units in each structure,” he said, noting that, currently, there is “no limit to the number of dwelling units that you could build … within a single structure” in the R-2 zone.
The Planning Commission also proposed raising the allowable height of residential structures in R-2 zones to 45 feet, up from 30 feet, he continued, explaining that “there’s a trend for having steeper pitches on roofs, and it seemed useful to us to try to accommodate that.”
For R-3, the Planning Commission is proposing a maximum of six dwelling units and three residential structures be allowed per lot – up from four dwellings units and two residential structures, Mahlum said.
The Planning Commission also recommends raising the height limit in R-3 to 45 feet, up from 30 feet, “to help accommodate additional dwelling units.”
There currently is no limit on the number of residential units that can exist on an R-5 lot, Mahlum said, and “we’re proposing that remain the same” in the future.
“We’re also proposing that the number of residential structures not be specifically limited (in R-5),” he added, though he also noted that setback requirements will remain in place, limiting the number of structures that can be built on a given lot, “so even though it sounds pretty scary, that there’s going to be no limit on the number of buildings… the reality is that there are a number of limits, not all of which are specifically legislated by our proposed changes to the zoning code.”
White said she appreciated the clarification that “constraints” on construction exist outside of the zoning codes.
“I think that’s one that has the potential to trip up folks,” she said. “Folks need to understand there will still be limits based on the functional space and the other requirements for it.”
R-MED is Lander’s “special zoning outlier” that was meant to house “clinics” and other entities “closer to the hospital,” Mahlum said.
The Planning Commission recommends no limit to the number of units allowed per lot in R-MED – partly to accommodate the Showboat retirement home, which has “a lot of dwelling units,” Mahlum said.
The Planning Commission did propose increasing the maximum height of residential structures in R-MED to be consistent with their other recommendations, he noted.
‘Balance’
After hearing the report from the Planning Commission, Councilmember Julia Stuble said she is “excited to see where we take this discussion” about the proposed changes to the local zoning code.
“It’s really a fine balance,” Councilmember Melinda Cox said. “We don’t want to be Jackson – we’re not trying to do that. But we do have a housing issue in Lander.”
She commended the Planning Commission for being “really mindful to that balance” as they developed their recommendations.
“Well done,” she said. “What you proposed is really walking that fine balance of what’s appropriate to Lander.”
The council will consider the Planning Commission recommendations during a future meeting.
For more information, call the City of Lander at 332-2870.