Across the amenity-rich West, communities have spent decades debating the limits to growth – how much change land, water, infrastructure and community character can absorb before the qualities that drew people there begin to erode. Durango has long been part of that conversation, and for generations has relied on face-to-face problem solving to navigate it. Yet our outlets for that kind of civic dialogue have shrunk just as mounting pressures make it more essential than ever. Our capacity to work through them together has diminished.
The most urgent example is the long-needed Camino Crossing at 12th Street, where the HAWK signal has proven grossly inadequate and downright dangerous. But Camino is more than a safety problem. It connects downtown to two crown jewels – the Animas River and River Trail – and links Historic Main Avenue, Buckley Park, the future City Hall and Police Department, the Powerhouse campus, west-side hotels and neighborhoods, and nearby recreation areas. Residents have stressed this project is about community connection and safety. Slow-moving pedestrians linger, support businesses, and help keep Main Avenue vibrant – saying hello along the way. That is the kind of city Durango wants to remain (Herald, Nov. 30).
The underpass aligns with major city goals: Vision Zero’s commitment to eliminating serious traffic injuries, supporting local business, expanding community connectivity, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Funding has been allocated almost every year since 2004, and each delay has only driven up the cost. That is why it matters that the Finance Advisory Board recommended including the Camino Crossing in this year’s budget, and why the Herald’s editorial board applauds the FAB for that recommendation and City Council for committing the funding.
A similar dynamic is unfolding on the Animas River Trail (Herald, Dec. 7). Rising user conflicts and an elderly man’s death have made safety a considerable concern. The city now proposes a new focus group to craft a speed-limit and safety ordinance. That is a step in the right direction – but also a step back toward the structure that once existed. The proposed members mirror those who once served on the Multimodal Advisory Board, dissolved in 2023 despite opposition from citizens and 16 former mayors (Herald, April 14, 2023). In effect, the city is rebuilding, project by project, advisory bodies it chose to eliminate.
That vote – which also eliminated the Parks & Recreation, Natural Lands, and Infrastructure boards – erased decades of institutional knowledge overnight. An Infrastructure Board, for example, could have helped residents and councilors understand recent utility-rate hikes by explaining long-term capital needs. The loss has been compounded by director and manager turnover across community development, multimodal, parks and recreation, and public works departments. Staff come and go; advisory board members are residents rooted in affected neighborhoods, providing much needed continuity.
The ADU proposal fits the same pattern (Herald, Sept. 25). The city may add 400 eligible lots even though it lacks basic data on the 287 existing ADUs and how they affect congestion, parking, noise and neighborhood character – and we still need a clearer picture of how short-term rentals contribute similar pressures. This is exactly the kind of tinkering at the edges that will not solve Durango’s larger challenges around growth, affordability and carrying capacity.
The Community Development Commission, which should be vetting these questions, needs reinvigoration. At its Sept. 29 ADU meeting, several members appeared unprepared – having not read the packet or citizen comments. Commissioners must step up or step aside; these decisions require diligence. And while council’s Jan. 6 study session is important, it should follow robust public engagement, not precede it.
Durango cannot navigate growth pressures – in safety, mobility or neighborhood character – without restoring durable, citizen-driven engagement. Reinstating the Parks & Recreation, Multimodal, Natural Lands and Infrastructure boards would recenter the long-term residents who carry our community’s memory and have the most at stake. The city should pause on ADU expansion until meaningful data and public input catch up.
Carrying capacity is not about how many units, cars or e-bikes Durango can hold, but how much change a community can absorb before it stops feeling like itself. Restoring strong advisory boards is essential to protecting that balance – and to ensuring Durango remains livable, connected and true to the character that drew us here in the first place.
Durango works best when staff, council, and citizens collaborate – each bringing knowledge the others do not.
Editor’s note: Ellen Stein, Opinion Editor and Editorial Board member, served on the Multimodal Advisory Board from 2019 to 2021.
