Lesson 2.1 – Issue Orientation

Issue Orientation:

Congrats on being your community’s local issue champion for CUPs! 

Before your municipality can implement a policy related to CUPs a discussion needs to take place among your community’s elected policymakers (council members). They need to be able to easily compare what is currently enacted in your community’s code against CiviclinQ’s guidance document (best practice recommendations) in order to identify gaps within the existing code and understand their policy options. 

In order to do this, you will need to be able to guide the discussion and answer basic questions.  Be sure that you are familiar with the following key points pertaining to CUPs:

• CUPs are land uses wanted in a particular zoning district. They are an administrative decision compared to legislative decision (i.e. rezone) – nor should they be treated legislatively.
• The key to effective CUPs is having applicable standards of review that attach conditions that limit the potential negative impacts of a certain use. Some standards to consider should relate to the following:
  • safety of people and / or property.
  • environmental concerns.
  • intent of the community’s general plan.
• These standards should include conditions that can protect the integrity of the underlying zoning district. The general standards (listed above) should lead to more specific standards that best fit the needs of your community.
• Like almost all administrative decisions, public clamor should be respected, but not be considered as a deciding factor.

Action Items:

1. Spend a minute getting familiar with CiviclinQ. Note the course materials provided under the “materials tab” located towards the top of the page.

Move on to Lesson 2.2.