Bayfield town officials are working on updates to town growth plans. They held an open house for community input on June 8 but didn't get much response.
Town Manager Chris La May and Nancy Lauro from Russell Planning and Engineering showed a map of a possible future town water service area. It goes well beyond current town limits, especially on the north, east, and west. These areas, especially Gem Village, could be served by the La Plata Archuleta Water District and will need an inter-governmental agreement to determine which entity provides water where. La May indicated Gem Village is the most immediate, since LAPLAWD will be bringing a main line east along Highway 160 to connect with the existing LAPLAWD line at County Road 509.
Other maps showed the existing town trail and street systems and how they could be extended with future growth. Another map showed constraints on development, mainly the Pine River floodplain.
La May said part of the idea with these maps is to define a joint planning review area agreement with the county. "We want to ensure that quality infrastructure is put in place in case that property (near town) wants to annex in the future," he said. The town is seeking comments from landowners in the town growth areas about land uses there.
The town comprehensive plan was approved in 2005, with master plans added more recently for the northeast edge of town and north of the highway between the river and Gem Village. Both of those plans support commercial development as well as residential.
La Plata County Planning Director Damian Peduto and planning staffer Daniel Murray were at last week's open house, along with County Planning Commission Chair Jim Tencza. They have been working since February 2015 to update the county's 2001 comprehensive plan. The already updated chapter on infrastructure aims to encourage development near areas that already have central utiities.
The maps are on the town website: www.bayfieldgov.org.
