The city of Durango is currently accepting applications for volunteer board positions on the newly formed Community Development Commission, with a Jan. 15 deadline for prospective applicants.
The Community Development Commission will be the second residential and municipal group to be formed after Durango City Council approved a strategy to reorganize and consolidate boards and commissions. It follows the formation of a Financial Advisory Board back in April.
The CDC will takeover the responsibilities currently handled by the city’s Planning Commission, Design Review Board and Board of Adjustment, all of which will be dissolved.
Durango Community Development Department Director Scott Shine previously told The Durango Herald that CDC members will be charged with considering land use and projects within the greater context of the direction of city growth and development that best serves the community’s interests.
CDC members will also play a part in revising the city’s land use and development code in an effort to smooth predevelopment processes between the city’s planning staff and developers.
A Dec. 19 city news release says CDC members will consider land use, growth, development and redevelopment within city limits; adherence of proposed projects to city design guidelines; policies, plans, goals and ordinances about development standards; and land use code amendments.
Residents have until midnight on Jan. 15 to apply for a seat on the commission. Applications are available online.
The current Planning Commission will hold its last regular meeting before the CDC transition in January. City Council will interview CDC applicants and appoint members in February.
The boards and commissions reorganization was met with opposition from some volunteer boards and commissions members, and the proposed structure of the CDC is not without some controversy either.
Earlier this month, Durango resident and Design Review Board member Blake Fredrickson said during a public participation segment at a City Council meeting that he objects to a decision to require just two of seven CDC members to have backgrounds in urban planning and design.
He likened the decision to reducing the required number of medical professionals on a hospital board.
“It is not in the best interest of the health of the community,” he said.
Shine said the CDC is being formed with a broader scope of directional growth of the city in mind, and the city is seeking representation on the commission from layman residents.
“We want representation from a variety of neighborhoods. … We don't necessarily want the people who are doing development type work every day, people who have a different lens on the community and how the community should grow and things like that,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
