The Colorado State Demographer projects that by the year 2030, La Plata County’s population will increase by 30,000 people, 13,000 of whom are expected to live in Durango. Where and how will this growth be accommodated? How will the water service area be defined and sewer services provided? How will land-use decisions be coordinated with the county?
Fortunately, we live in a forward-thinking community, and these are among the questions the city of Durango’s Plan Update 2017 (see durangoplanupdate.org) will address, with broad community input. The Durango city charter requires City Council to adopt a Comprehensive Plan and update it every five to 10 years to serve as a “guide for all future council action concerning land use and development regulations and expenditures for capital improvements.”
The first of three community forums kicked off last week introducing the comprehensive plan revision goals to members of the general public and an advisory committee composed of a cross-section of city board and commission members. And earlier this summer, the city launched the Durango Districts Initiative (see districts.durangogov.org) with the Envision North Main community workshop. The initiative aims to define and retain the city’s character through development of 10 district plans.
Equipped with keypad clickers and sticky notes, comprehensive plan meeting participants tested the assumptions of the 2007 plan’s vision, values and guiding principles, answering questions such as “which of the following growth policies should the city of Durango adopt?” With five choices ranging from “encourage” to “ignore” growth, 68 percent answered “manage” growth. In-fill development and building out Three Springs and Twin Buttes, areas already poised for development, were popular. Multiuse development, flexibility in parking requirements and incentivizing specific types of development our community desires were discussed, as was figuring out how to pay for it.
Though some residents would surely like to close the gate, and land and water remain limiting factors in growth and development across the West, managing growth is the right course, and the city is on the right track with this and other planning efforts. Without planning, we have no shared vision or how to achieve it, what to preserve or change, or what challenges we must work to overcome. Without planning, we risk losing the qualities that make our community special and unique. A plan sets priorities for action.
This plan revision is a major update that will address changes and challenges to Durango, including housing costs and availability, sustainability and transportation, and for the first time will incorporate arts and culture and become a permanent section of the plan.
It will begin to answer the question that has challenged us to date in answering what is the role of government in supporting the arts and culture. A significant first step, the city is paying for Creative Community Builders to facilitate and draft this section of the plan, which has its own 17-member Arts and Culture Working Group.
The longer-term challenge before the city is to integrate into the Comprehensive Plan local and regional transportation and sustainability plans, the housing study that addresses workforce and affordable housing, and the downtown area and character district plans. The next community workshop, focusing on the Camino del Rio District, will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Durango City Hall.
Numerous opportunities to help shape the future of Durango are before us.
