Kaysen:UDC Repeal “Would Be A Step Backward”

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen says repealing the city's controversial Unified Development Code--or UDC--would ''be a step backward" in terms of city development.

The code is currently under review by the city council, as mandated by one provision of the code when it became law last year. Kaysen says that while the council could legally repeal the UDC, it would mean the city would have to go back to the  three pre-existing codes and try to make sense of them as guidelines for city development. Kaysen says one problem with that idea is that the codes sometimes contradicted each other. He says another problem is that portions of those codes were outdated, having been on the books for 30 years or more in some cases.

Kaysen also says 85% of those codes were included in the UDC, so the change has not been that dramatic. Kaysen says that while the city council could legally repeal the UDC, the chances of that actually happening are remote.