The La Plata County Planning Commission, like those in all counties across Colorado, has the sole authority to craft long-term planning documents that consider growth trends, infrastructure needs and demands as well as key economic drivers that will shape the county’s future. By doing so, the county aims to anticipate its needs and guide growth accordingly. But the exercise is far from simple. There are diverse and divergent opinions about land use and under whose authority regulating it falls. There are conflicts between protecting the environment and some activities that are critical to the county’s economy. There are unknowns in terms of future resources and demand for them. There are ideological differences among county residents. Because of these and other complexities, the Planning Commission is endeavoring on a large task in revising and updating the county’s comprehensive plan. For it to be both relevant and inclusive, the plan must involve significant and enduring public input.
There is plenty of opportunity to provide that input, as the revision process has only recently begun. The seven-member appointed commission, chaired by Jim Tencza who served on the commission during its ill-fated 2009-2011 efforts at crafting a new comprehensive plan, is conducting a chapter-by-chapter update of the 2001 county comprehensive plan. Thus far, it has considered and updated growth trends, with information from the 2010 census and has examined and proposed updates to the agriculture component of the plan. The Planning Commission holds special meetings on the first Thursday of each month for this discussion; the next meeting is at 6 p.m. May 7 and will focus on updates to the chapter covering infrastructure, transportation, water, sewer, utilities and telecommunications. This is a critical component of the plan and one that is not particularly developed in the plan now in place.
As water becomes increasingly scarce, with growing demand and limited supply, its availability is something the county must consider when planning for future growth. As such, the planning staff and commission ought to be carefully observing both the Colorado Water Plan, and, more importantly, the Southwest Basin’s contribution to the statewide effort. Likewise, other infrastructure planning will directly affect the county’s future growth. As population increases, so does road use. The types of usage have proportionally different consequences on roads and their adjacent residents and business owners. The King II Coal Mine, owned by GCC Energy, LLC, is one such example. As the mine’s operations expand, nearby residents are enduring increased traffic, noise, dust and disruption as a result. These are the sorts of interactions that a long-range plan can anticipate and provide a framework to mitigate.
The Planning Commission and planning department aim to craft a document that responds to the changing conditions and dynamics in the county – rather than dictates credos that are relevant today but may not be tomorrow. That is an appropriate goal for a long-range visionary plan, but achieving it requires significant input. The county is providing ample opportunity for that; it is incumbent upon county residents to engage in this important process. Attend the May 7 La Plata County Planning Commission meeting.
