Steamboat Pilot & Today

City and county officials are looking to amend the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan less than a year after it was adopted.

The Steamboat Springs City Council and the Routt County commissioners met Wednesday to discuss minor changes to the area plan, which was adopted by the two boards in May 2004.

The plan recommends that any minor amendments be made on an annual basis. Since the adoption, the only request for minor amendments has been to expand the urban growth boundary.

Landowners have requested that the urban growth boundary include a 1.4-acre parcel and a 4-acre parcel off Spring Creek Road, a 2.2-acre site in Old Town near Thornburg and Yahmonite streets, a 60-acre parcel near Mount Werner and River roads and a connector road in a proposed development west of town.

The two boards did not make decisions Wednesday. The city and county planning staff intend to have a full analysis of the five requests in May.

Instead, the two entities discussed the process necessary to amend the boundary and reviewed the criteria of approval for amendments into the boundary.

The urban growth boundary was established in 1995 and reviewed as part of the Steamboat Springs Area Com--munity Plan Update. Its limits are intended to identify land that is appropriate for urban development, allow for effective delivery of public utilities and services and protect open lands and natural resources.

Land within the boundary can develop at urban densities and is eligible for city services; land outside the boundaries must develop at county and rural densities.

A major issue in expanding the urban growth boundary, City Planner Tom Leeson said, is looking at the effect it would have on the capacity for the city and county to serve a growing population.

"Any expansion of the urban growth boundary results in a loss of capacity for those units already within the urban growth boundary," Leeson said.

For land to be allowed into the urban growth boundary, property owners must receive approval from the city and county planning commissions, the City Council and the county commissioners.

Language in the area plan suggests that requests into the urban growth boundary be reviewed once a year.

-- To reach Christine Metz call 871-4229

or e-mail cmetz@steamboatpilot.com