The Planned Development Zone (PDZ) District is a relatively new zone district in Colorado Springs, which effectively replaced the Planned Unit Development (PUD) zone district when the Unified Development Code (UDC) was adopted in 2023.
The PUD was a catch-all zone district that was often used (perhaps too often) when a zone change was going to be necessary and the applicant would like to have variances from the existing zone district standards. It became commonplace for planners like us that do a lot of entitlement developments in Colorado Springs – in particular an infill development. All previously zoned properties that were zoned PUD were rezoned to PDZ during this adoption process, in addition to properties zoned Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND).
Our office was fortunate to work with Echo Architecture on what became the first PDZ approved in Colorado Springs at the Dream Centers Commons development on Union Boulevard across the street from Memorial Park. The PDZ process is similar to the former PUD process, with a few new caveats and requirements including eligibility.
For a zone change to be elgible for a zone change to PDZ, the proposed design can not be elgible for a conventional zone district, which includes the available tools that allow flexibility within the UDC zone districts. This language is key and can be interpretted differently with the varying City Planners, so understanding it at the onset is important.
A zone change to a PDZ also differs from the prior PUD in the documents necessary that accommodate the application. The PDZ district must include a Land Use Plan (similar to the former Concept Plan requirements) or a Land Use Plan Waiver and Land Use Statement. For Dream Centers Commons, we opted to provide the Land Use Plan (illustrated below).
Within the Land Use Plan, a new requirement that differs from the prior Concept Plan application is the need to define and describe at least two (2) Community Amenities or Benefits from the following four (4) options: High Quality Design Features; Community Amenities; Mix of Housing Types; and Sustainable Development Practices.
If you have a development that you believe would be appropriate for a Zone Change to PDZ, let us know. We’re happy to walk through the process with you. It is always our goal to find the nexus between providing great places for our community and achieving maximum profit for our clients.