MILLS, Wyo. — If the Mills City Council votes to pass amended planning and zoning regulations on the next two readings, the updated code will become the city’s new land development guide.
As proposed, the amended ordinance constitutes a complete revision of the City of Mills’ zoning and subdivision ordinance, although much of the regulatory content remains unchanged.
“This is a fresh document, not a red line or cut/paste in the old document,” City Planner Megan Nelms wrote in a summary reviewing substantial changes to the City of Mills Title 17 ordinance.
Title 17 is a guide to help ensure proper and thoughtful land development within Mills city limits. The code applies to everything from subdividing property into multiple parcels, dealing with nonconforming land uses and fence construction rules to business signage, home occupations and commercial lighting.
Adopting new or amended city code takes passage on three readings during a regular Mills City Council meeting. Council meetings start at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 704 4th St.
According to the Mills City Council May 28 agenda, a second reading of the amended ordinance — renamed Title 17, City of Mills Land Development Regulations — is Tuesday. Also on May 28, the council has scheduled a planning and zoning Title 17 review during its 6 p.m. work session at City Hall. Both meetings are open to the public.
If the ordinance proceeds to a third and final reading, councilors will likely vote June 11.
Nelms said the city will probably schedule a public hearing to coincide with the third reading. The goal is to start the new fiscal year July 1 with the amended regulations, she said.
With some exceptions, most of the Mills zoning rules remain the same in the proposed Title 17, City of Mills Land Development Regulations; however, the ordinance looks substantially different from the city’s current Title 17 zoning and subdivision code. Among updates, the amended version has a new title, new directory, updated zoning descriptions, numerous charts and graphs and an overall user-friendly layout.
Nelms modeled the new City of Mills proposed zoning ordinance after similar documents used by the City of Casper and other communities around the state.
Some sections in the current City of Mills code were frequently “piecemealed” over the years, Nelms said.
Updating Title 17 will achieve continuity in regulations across the local municipalities while keeping the requirements easy to use for people who may want to develop residential property or expand their business, according to city documents.
While content is not drastically changed, the amended ordinance is more organized and cohesive as well as user-friendly for developers and others seeking information about land and property development in Mills.
“We want people to build and live and work in Mills,” Nelms said. “We don’t want [Title 17] to be overly burdensome.”
Throughout the Title 17 update process, Nelms sought to:
• Use simple words, phrases and sentences when possible.
• Avoid the use of confusing, conflicting and ambiguous language.
• Incorporate graphics to illustrate regulations for clarity.
• Use interactive features that make navigating the document easier.
One upgrade from the old version, for example, is that the new table of contents has clickable text, taking people to that part of the document.
The amended code renames most zoning districts to better reflect their purpose and to put them in line with the City of Casper, increasing easier regulation use and consistency across jurisdictions. The established residential zoning district, for example, is changed to R-2. Mixed-size residential and mixed-use zoning names are removed.
If the amended Title 17 is adopted as passed on first reading, the City of Mills will no longer require 50% of surrounding property-owner signatures for zone change or variance requests.
“Development applications should be evaluated based on their compliance with the regulations as set forth; not whether their neighbor ‘agrees’ with it,” Nelms wrote in staff comments.
Instead, notice will be provided, and surrounding landowners will have the chance to provide comments on the proposal before the City of Mills Planning and Zoning Commission.
Many definitions were carried over from the previous version. Some are kept the same and others updated. The alphabetical list helps users understand how the City of Mills defines terms used in the Title 17 document. This helps people, for example, understand the difference between caretaker housing and a group care family home; condominium and townhome; and mobile, modular and manufactured homes.
In addition, Nelms’s summary points out proposed changes that:
• Require a publicly posted notice as well as letters to surrounding property owners within 1,000 feet of certain land development applications and subdivision.
• Require public notice to surrounding property owners for all applications in which final approval rests with the city council.
• Require a preliminary plat only when 10 or more lots are proposed.
• Reduce the age of manufactured homes allowed in Mills from homes no older than 20 years to manufactured homes no older than 15 years.
• Require applicants to reimburse the survey review cost, thus ensuring the applicant/developer bears the cost of development review instead of taxpayers.
Other substantial changes include those addressing buffering standards, lighting standards, annexations, traffic study requirements, location of manufactured homes and accessory dwelling units.
Read the proposed Title 17 City of Mills Land Development Regulations with executive summary of substantial changes below.
