Lakewood Board of Adjustment elects officers, approves 2022 minutes and plans rules update

Lakewood — The Lakewood Board of Adjustment opened its Dec. 3, 2025 meeting by conducting officer elections, approving historical minutes and discussing a process to adopt updated rules and regulations.

During the short election process the board reappointed Board Member Buckley as chair and confirmed Grama (recorded in the minutes as Grama Lunas/Grama Lewinis) as vice chair following roll-call votes. The chair then noted legal advice that the board is operating under its 2009 rules and regulations because a 2021 draft of updated rules was never formally adopted.

Legal staff advised the board that the correct procedural path is to circulate the most recent draft and any suggested redlines to members, coordinate language with the Planning Commission so the two sets of rules are consistent, and then return to a noticed public meeting for formal adoption. Legal indicated a review could be completed in roughly a month and recommended sending the materials to City Council for ratification as best practice once the board adopts its bylaws.

The board also moved to approve the Board of Adjustment meeting minutes from Nov. 2, 2022 "subject to the recording" — a phrase used in the motion to clarify the board is not asserting personal recollection of events for items where most members were not present in 2022 — and the motion passed by roll call, 6 ayes, 0 nays.

Members discussed scheduling a future meeting to consider the rules and regulations, with staff noting the next likely meeting window would fall in late February to March 2026 and that combining adoption with a Planning Commission meeting is a preferred option to standardize procedures. Legal and staff committed to circulate redlines and the latest draft to board members for review.