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City's Master Plan Updates
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Summary and Background Information:
The purpose of this presentation is to provide background information on the City’s Master Plans and the project staff is seeking to undertake to update them.
The city is embarking on an update to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Plan, which will be a long-term plan for how the city will look in 2045. Since 2010, the City has continued to grow and community desires and priorities have evolved and changed. New and developing trends have emerged that were not contemplated in the prior plan and the current understanding of the traditional retail development market needs to be analyzed to create a proper balance moving forward.
A comprehensive plan is a vision of what the community wants to be. It is comprehensive in scope and topics including housing, economic development, land use, transportation, parks, etc. It is long range, usually contemplating a 20 - 30 year time horizon. A comprehensive plan is a policy document that guides implementing regulations and development approvals. It informs land use decisions, areas for reinvestment, and employment growth.
To ensure the City’s Comprehensive Plan continues to be a useful policy document that represents the vision and collective desires of the community, the city is pursuing a comprehensive update to the plan to respond to changing conditions and community values. This Plan update is a project for a qualified and experienced consultant to analyze the existing comprehensive plan and propose updates and additions as warranted, with an integrated sustainability plan and strong implementation recommendations, for the entire current and future growth areas of Commerce City.
The update will also merge the comprehensive plan with the City Work Plan and follow up with the modernization of three, key, city-wide plans (Transportation Plan, Economic Development Strategic Plan and Parks, Recreation and Golf Master Plan). These plan updates align with Council’s goals as outlined in the 2020 City Work Plan and was initially funded as part of the approved 2020 Five-year Capital Improvement and Preservation Plan (CIPP), with additional funds requested in the 2021 CIPP.
As part of the plan updates, the city has expressed a desire for meaningful and dynamic community participation. Staff believes the Houseal Lavigne Associates team offers an innovative approach with exciting ideas for plan outreach efforts. Houseal Lavigne has outlined a scope that will include substantial opportunities for citizen participation, including the Spanish-speaking community, in the update process.
Houseal Lavigne Associates is proposing to partner with Toole Design, TetraTech, JR Engineering, and Language Access LLC to complete all of the plans. While Houseal Lavigne Associates’ office is not local, many of their partners are including JR Engineering. Houseal Lavigne Associates does have significant experience in Colorado and recently completed Aurora’s Comprehensive Plan, which won a merit award from the Colorado American Planning Association this past fall. They have also created comprehensive plans for several other Colorado communities including Windsor, Frederick, and are working on Grand Junction’s comprehensive plan currently.
The timeline for the project is:
Comprehensive Plan: Fall 2020-October 2021
Transportation Plan: June 2021-August 2022
Economic Development Strategic Plan: December 2021-May 2022
Parks, Recreation and Golf Master Plan: June 2021-January 2022
The next step in the project will be to kick off the Comprehensive Plan Update. In the meantime, staff will initiate the recruitment of members for the Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC). The Committee will consist of approximately 15 members; half from existing Boards and Commissions with Residents, Business Owners, Property Owners Developers, etc. making up the remaining membership. Council will determine and appoint members late Summer or early Fall 2020. An elected officials roundtable is envisioned in early Fall as well as the creation of a project charter.
Ultimately, a resolution will be brought forward on August 17 to seek City Council authorization of a $717,000 professional services agreement with Houseal Lavigne Associates for the updates to the Comprehensive Plan, Transportation Plan, Economic Development Strategic Plan and Parks, Recreation and Golf Master Plan. Resolution No. 2020-34 authorizes the City Manager to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Houseal Lavigne Associates, substantially in the form attached, on behalf of the city.
Staff Responsible (Department Head):
Jason Rogers, Community Development Director
Joe Wilson, Public Works Director
Carolyn Keith, Parks, Recreation and Golf Director
Michelle Claymore, Economic Development Director
Staff Member Presenting: Jenny Axmacher, Planner
Financial Impact:
A Request for Proposals (RFP) was posted on the city’s website and the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System on June 3, 2019. Five valid proposals were received on July 10, 2019. Houseal Lavigne Associates provided the lowest qualified/responsive proposal for the project.
$712,000 from the City Capital Improvement and Preservation Plan (CIPP) will be spent on the update. An additional $5,000 will be spent from a grant the City received from Healthy Places for a total of $717,000. These funds will be spent over a three year period between 2020 and 2022. A majority of the funding for this project will be utilized in 2021 and 2022 with approximately $75,000 used in 2020.
Funding Source:
$712,000 from the CIPP, with an additional $5,000 in grant funds for a total of $717,000.
Staff Recommendation:
City Council authorize the $717,000 Professional Services Agreement with Houseal Lavigne Associates for the Comprehensive Plan update, Transportation Plan update, Economic Development Strategic Plan update and Parks, Recreation and Golf Master Plan.
Suggested Motion: N/A