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Work finishing on first comp plan sections

Eight months into the process, county planning commissioners and planning staffers are wrapping up work on the first several sections of an updated comprehensive plan.

Word-smithing occupied much of their Oct. 1 meeting, along with discussion of whether maps should be in the chapters that refer to them, or all in a separate appendix. Sections done so far are the introduction and growth trends, agriculture, infrastructure, and extractive resources. They are updates to the county's 2001 comprehensive plan. The cleaned-up version is on-line at http://co.laplata.co.us/departments_and_elected_officials/planning/comprehensive_plan.

County Planning Director Damian Peduto said planning commissioners likely will be asked to certify these sections to the Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 5. There also will be an "implementation matrix," a to-do list tied to goals, policies, and strategies in these sections.

Asked if the plan will consider cumulative impacts of development, Peduto said, "This is the thing about a long range document. You can't modify land use without affecting traffic, and you can't modify traffic without affecting land use. There will be a lot of compounded efforts, working with several sections of the plan at the same time. Cumulative impacts will start to raise questions that could affect policy. We don't have that sophistication in here right now, but we'll need that eventually."

The already done sections will have to be revisited as other topics and district land use plans are considered, to keep everything aligned, Peduto said. The county has 10 district plans representing different parts of the county. They were adopted in the late 1990s. Most have not been revised since then. The southeast district never adopted a plan or land use map.

The district plans are in the appendix, along with the 2030 TRIP (transportation) plan from the late 1990s, the trails plan from 2000, infrastructure maps, an airport master plan when that's adopted, and the Colorado Water Plan when adopted. Peduto noted that items in the appendix can be updated as needed, while comp plan sections have to be re-certified to the county commissioners if they are changed.

The introduction cites state statute that, "It is the duty of a county plannng commission to make and adopt a master plan for the physical development of the unincorporated territory of the county."

It states on the first page that the comprehensive plan is "an advisory document which establishes a framework for planning in the county." It says, "The comprehensive plan also seeks to recognize diverse perspectives on land use and private property rights expressed by county residents."

Planning is an ongoing process that reflects changing conditions and "sets forth the specific actions to carry out the plan," it says. The introduction recounts county history and the history of planning and land use regulation in the county.

The growth trends section includes a lot of population statistics, most recently from 2010, growth projections to 2040, and things like employment and income by job sector, and property assessed valuations. County population was listed at 53,446 in 2010, with 33,529 people living in unincorporated parts of the county. It projects population to reach 91,422 in 2040.

The 2001 comp plan didn't have an infrastructure section. The transportation section just referred to the 2030 TRIP plan from 1998. The new infrastructure section includes transportation, water, sewer, other utilities, and telecommunications. Each one of these lists goals, objectives, and policies.

The agriculture section starts by noting that the state has adopted "Right to Farm" legislation to protect ag operations from nuisance claims. It notes the struggles of making a living in ag, residents' desires to preserve the county's ag heritage, and their desires for more access to locally grown food. As of 2010, agricultural products and services accounted for 2.7 percent of jobs in the county. From 2005 to 2010, production expenses were more than ag income, so producers were losing money.

The extractive resources section has renewable energy as part of its title. It defines extractive resources as non-renewable. These are natural gas, oil, sand and gravel, coal, gold, and silver.

It says, "As a result of La Plata County's expanding rural population, increasing conflicts have occurred between the private rural population and extractive industries. The challenge is to find a balance between accommodating extractive resource development with an increasing population and to develop ways for mitigating potential conflicts..."

It cites the need for the county to coordinate with state and federal agencies that regulate these activities. Oil and gas accounts for around 1.6 percent of jobs in the county but about half of county tax revenue. Revenue peaked in 2009, declined sharply in 2010, and has been up and down sice then. As of 2014, tax revenue from oil and gas as well as total revenue was still below the 2010 level.

The section cites the benefits and desire for more renewable energy development with a caveat that "each of the potential sources of renewable energy has its own drawbacks. The technology associated with many renewable energy projects is fairly new, and the impacts from these endeavors may not be fully realized. Although there are several regulatory agencies involved with the development of renewable energy, the regulatory framework for the industries involved has not yet been entirely established."

Planning commissioner Frank Lockwood wanted a stronger statement in the infrastruction element (chapter) about encouraging community solar gardens and other renewable energy.

The table of contents for the plan as it stands now includes topics that have not been considered yet: land use, housing, environmental resources, the airport, public safety, recreation and tourism, and historic preservation. Work on those is scheduled to continue into 2017. Work on the land use section is scheduled to start in January.

Meetings are the first Thursday each month, but most of the work happens between meetings. Draft additions, changes, objectives, policies, and strategies are posted on the web site before each meeting, for review at the meeting. The web site has a link to submit comments.