Steamboat Pilot & Today

City officials said Monday that they were working to incorporate changes suggested by the Routt County Planning Commission into the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan Update.

County planning commissioners said at a meeting Thursday that they likely would not approve the plan update unless certain changes were made or explanations were given for why those changes could not be made.

Routt County commissioners and Steamboat officials met Monday to discuss the concerns.

The changes include specific word changes to goals and statements in various chapters, as well as changes to the plan's future land use map.

County planning Commissioner Fred Nichols said Monday that while the updated draft did include many changes, some points were left out, giving the impression that some voices were not heard through the process.

"I don't think anybody wants to stand in the way of this thing getting done," Nichols said.

But when hours of work reading, reviewing and commenting on the plan had been put in, the planning commissioners "feel like they should see a reflection of what they've done," he said.

Nichols said more than half of the 20 suggestions made by the county planning commission in October were not reflected in the plan. He also said he thinks the process is being rushed.

Steve Stamey, director of city planning services, said he had a list of 70 suggested changes from a Nov. 5 meeting, and that all but three of those were incorporated into the plan.

Routt County Planner Chad Phillips said that if the city outlined why those changes had been made and why others went unchanged, the planning commissioners could be satisfied.

City Planner Tom Leeson said the timeline from the start has been to approve an adoption plan contingent on some changes, therefore, he felt it was unnecessary to make all the changes before the draft plan is approved March 15.

"I want to do it right, obviously," Leeson said. "It's not the intent to drive this thing through."

He said he would talk with city representatives about delaying the approval of the adoption draft.

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