County Planning Commissioners reviewed the draft update for the public safety chapter of the county comprehensive plan on Dec. 1.
"This document was put together almost four weeks ago" and submitted to the emergency service agencies for comments, planning staffer Daniel Murphy said. The draft considered on Dec. 1 included those agency comments.
It's broken into four sections, Murphy said - law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, the Office of Emergency Management/ Search and Rescue, and flood plain management.
The draft says the La Plata County Sheriff's Office is the second largest law enforcement division on the Western Slope. Incidents investigated by the office have increased from 22,100 in 2000 to 28,890 in 2015. It cites a report from the U.S. Department of Justice that local jail populations increased 21 percent from 1999 to 2013.
Current jail capacity is 184 inmates, with average population of 159, the draft says. An old jail section that was closed in 2015 might be used to house 48 low-level offenders from overcrowded jails in Boulder, Mesa, El Paso, and Pueblo counties, at those counties' expense, increasing capacity to 232.
The draft notes that the District Attorney's Office has started an adult diversion program for low-risk offenders, such as someone caught driving with a suspended license because they couldn't afford to pay prior fines.
"This program, utilizing restorative justice, has proven to reduce the number of offenders in an already backlogged court system, reduce the likelihood of repeat offenders, and create a strong community bond by hosting community conferences for offenders," it says. Restorative justice "focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large."
Planning commissioner Frank Lockwood said maps show very complicated jurisdictions that create confusion about who's in charge in an emergency. Besides the towns and county, they include state, tribal, and federal agencies.
Murphy responded, "You are absolutely correct from what I understand from meeting with (Sheriff Sean Smith)."
Planning commissioner Debbi Reber asked where vehicle-wildlife collisions fit in to the chapter.
"We didn't contemplate that," Murphy said and promised to add something about that.
For fire protection, the draft notes that as land prices increase in Durango, development is pushed to more rural parts of the county. "With this in mind, service levels as provided by the fire protection districts have become more complicated due to the lack of water availability to combat fires, in addition to difficult terrain when accessing properties," it says. Development in wildfire hazard areas is another issue. The comp plan's environmental resources chapter has more about that.
Robbie Overfield created the fire district maps for this chapter. "We know the county is diverse," he said. "Each (fire) district has its own unique challenges." The maps show staffed and unstaffed fire stations and population nodes relative to those stations.
It's related to the level of service, Planning Director Damian Peduto said. "At what level can the public be served by the fire district? How long will it take them to get to a home? What share of the district is achieving that level of service? These maps give us the tool to figure out existing level of service. In the future as population grows, do you want to increase, maintain, or decrease level of service?"
The draft says, "Looking forward, the fire protection districts and EMS are anticipating a continued increase in call volume due largely in part to an increase in population within the county. As population increases, so will events and gatherings requiring dedicated services from emergency personnel, which may require the county to pursue guidance strategies and funding measures so those agencies can perform at the highest potential service level."
The Office of Emergency Management/Search and Rescue section is short. It refers to the county's 2013 multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan.
The floodplain management section uses updated 100-year floodplain and floodway maps from 2010. Those are for Vallecito Creek, the Pine River and Animas River. The maps can be accessed for free on the county's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) web site. The public safety section includes a policy to develop floodway mapping for all major drainages in the county.
The public safety draft lists a key point that, "Rather than the ultimate exclusion of development in those (floodplain) areas, when analyzed early in the proposal stages, strategic steps can be implemented to allow for safe development."
The public safety chapter has a goal "to ensure emergency preparedness planning and emergency services continues to meet or exceed the growing demands of the county's constituents and visitors." Under that, it lists objectives and policies, including "to ensure that adequate development standards are implemented," and to "encourage commercial development near existing infrastructure to ensure emergency service entities have adequate water and access to perform their duties."
Planning commissioners will finish the public safety chapter at their Jan. 5 meeting. After that will be historic preservation and then recreation/tourism. Planning commissioners will likely certify these final chapters in April.
Planning commissioners started in early 2015 to update the 2001 comp plan, with meetings on the first Thursday each month. At the November meeting, planning commissioners certified the sections on land use, the airport area, housing, and environmental resources.
Sections certified in November 2015 were the introduction, growth trends, agriculture, infrastructure, extractive resources and renewable resources.
