Park County delays adoption of 2025 strategic master plan, asks planning commission for a cover page and edits

Park County commissioners voted Wednesday to postpone formal adoption of a 2025 strategic master plan and asked staff and the board to draft a one-page cover statement explaining budget constraints and the advisory nature of the plan.

The Planning Commission adopted the draft plan on April 17 after consultants from Electra Johnson Design and Planning LLC gathered community input, including 826 survey responses and seven public workshops across Park County. Jenny Gannon, planning staff, told the Board the plan is an advisory document required under Colorado law and intended to guide future capital decisions, land-use updates and grant applications.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the document contains many aspirational strategies that could be interpreted by outside readers as commitments without context about what the county can afford. Several commissioners asked for a short preface clarifying that the plan is aspirational, that many listed strategies would require future funding or regulatory changes, and that the plan reflects the preferences of those who participated in outreach rather than a countywide vote.

Gannon summarized the outreach and process: the county received a DOLA (Department of Local Affairs) grant, hired consultants, ran a countywide survey and held seven community workshops in Alma, Fairplay, Bailey, Jefferson/Como, Lake George, Guffey and Hartsel. Scott Dodge, a member of the Planning Commission, said the consultants produced the strategies and the commission revised the draft through several work sessions. Dodge called the final document "the document of the people." He also confirmed the survey results were broken out by subarea in the plan.

Commissioners raised several points during debate: Commissioner Mitchell said survey wording appeared to some participants to be leading and asked that the board be explicit about how the survey influenced goals versus consultant-proposed strategies. Other commissioners urged the board to preserve the full range of strategies so the county has options for future grant applications and planning regardless of current budget constraints.

The board voted 3-0 to delay adoption and directed staff to prepare a proposed cover sheet summarizing budget realities and the advisory status of the plan, to present that to the Planning Commission for its recommendation, and to return the plan to the Board through a sequence of dates: a Board work session on June 11 to review a draft cover page, Planning Commission consideration (third Tuesday in June), a Board work session June 18 to review Planning Commission comments, and potential formal action July 2.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the plan will remain a tool for staff and the public to support grant applications and policy discussions, but not an immediate mandate for spending.

The meeting record shows the Planning Commission adopted the plan on April 17 and the Board's action on May 7 was to table adoption pending the cover-page addition and Planning Commission review.