Larimer County officials on Sept. 8 demonstrated a new, searchable regional plan inventory designed to let planners and partners view and filter the text of roughly 50 local and regional plans in one place.

Heidi Pruis, the county’s sustainability and climate manager, told the Board of County Commissioners that the interactive tool, published on the Climate Smart Future Ready website, is a “live interactive tool that allows for you to sort through” plan text by topic and jurisdiction. She said the inventory contains no policy analysis and is a “cut and paste exercise” of language found in plans.

The inventory was built with the help of a Colorado State University student who worked as an intern, Pruis said. Pruis said the database is organized to align with the Climate Smart Future Ready categories — built environment, circular economy, mobility, and natural environment — and provides color-coded, filterable entries that show the plan, jurisdiction and the relevant plan language. “There are 50 community plans, local plans in Larimer County that are inventoried here,” she said.

Commissioners and staff discussed next steps for maintaining and using the inventory. Commissioner Jody Shattuck McNally called the tool “a really strong tool” and praised the student work; Kristen Stevens, chair of the board, and other commissioners said it could help jurisdictions avoid duplicative planning and better coordinate across boundaries.

Staff said the inventory is intended as a working reference for planners rather than a definitive analysis and that additional plans (for example, drought-related work) will be added over time. Pruis said the next task is to keep the inventory up to date so it remains useful as a regional resource.

Ending: County staff encouraged municipal and agency partners to use the inventory and sign up for upcoming Climate Smart knowledge sessions; the work session presentation included links to the Climate Smart Future Ready annual report and dashboard for people who want more detail.