Steamboat Pilot & Today

If several changes aren't made to the Steamboat Springs Community Area Plan Update before March 15, the Routt County Planning Commission likely will not adopt the final draft.

In reviewing the adoption draft of the update Thursday, planning commissioners said that while some of their comments from earlier work sessions had been incorporated into the document, other important changes had not been made, and no information on their exclusion had been included.

Routt County Planning Commissioner Donald Alperti asked whether any planning commissioner felt comfortable approving the adoption plan as it was, without any changes.

None did, so they agreed to make a list of the changes they wanted to see and to not approve the plan until those changes were made, or reasons why they didn't need to be made were discussed.

The plan update is meant to help guide growth and changes in the Steamboat area for the coming years.

Planning Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she expected to see an appendix of comments and suggestions from the work sessions, but such an appendix was not included in the adoption draft.

That made it difficult to know whether comments from the Planning Commission, or other groups and individuals, had been incorporated, she said.

Planning Commissioner Fred Nichols suggested the Planning Commission discuss with city officials why some changes were made and others were not. If those answers are available, he said, then the plan could move forward with the Planning Commission's support.

Changes need to be made to maps of future use of the area included in the plan, planning commissioners and planning staff agreed. Routt County Planner John Eastman said that policies, action items and future land use maps would affect decisions more than the general text of the plan.

Another important change was to be consistent with the use of words such as "require" and "should," making the plan something that strongly encourages certain patterns of development but doesn't require specific actions, planning commissioners said.

Planning commissioners also suggested that a statement encouraging control of light pollution, as well as established environmental standards, should be included in the chapter on community design and image.

The adoption draft is a product of collaboration by public officials, staff, consultants, volunteers, working groups and residents from November 2001 through January 2004, and serves to update the 1995 plan.

Routt County planning commissioners will discuss the adoption draft again at their Feb. 19 meeting.

-- To reach Susan Bacon, call 871-4203

or e-mail sbacon@steamboatpilot.com