It’s been a long time coming. As reported by Ark Valley Voice last week, Chaffee County Commissioners and staff formally kicked off the Land Use Code Update project with consultant firm Logan Simpson at an internal administrative planning session on January 31, 2022. The Land Use Code Update project is an outgrowth of the priorities and goals named within the Chaffee County Comprehensive Plan adopted in December 2020.
As laid out in the final pubic discussions of the contract by the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners (BoCC), there will be extensive public engagement during the lengthy development process.
Agriculture is a key element in Chaffee County’s landscape, economy, and environment. Photo courtesy Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce.
The project’s objective is to assess and holistically update the County’s current Land Use Code and related processes, incorporating the key principles and recommendations from the Comprehensive Plan in order to codify the new Land Use policy.
The current Land Use Code was last fully updated in 2014, although it has had tweaks throughout the past couple of years.
The project timeline forecasts having the updated code fully approved and adopted by late 2023. The project will approach the update through a least four distinct phases and modules (each charted on a GANTT flowchart). Each phase and the modules within the phases is focused on a subset of code sections. Each will have its own series of public engagement, iterative review, and public hearings.
Information and ongoing updates for the Land Use Code Update project will be shared at www.TogetherChaffeeCounty.org, where the public can also sign up for the mailing list to receive updates directly through email.
The county launched a competitive proposal process in July 2021. Following multiple interviews with five firms, the BoCC selected Logan Simpson in partnership with White & Smith, LLC, to facilitate the project. The Logan Simpson team is now finalizing the project management plan, overall schedule, and engagement roll-out.
The public-facing work for the Code Update initiative will start in late February with a wide variety of input events, engagement activities, and feedback platforms. Logan Simpson will manage a community-wide strategy to gather input from residents and numerous stakeholder groups through several mechanisms including an advisory committee, focus groups, interviews, surveys, polling, and pop-ups. Input will help guide Logan Simpson’s development of the new code text alongside County staff, elected officials, board groups, and municipal partners.
As reported in AVV’s July 27 news story, the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has provided grant support to help fund the project.
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