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Navajo County adopts updated comprehensive plan after public review; one supervisor objects
Summary
Following a yearlong public process, the Navajo County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt the county'wide comprehensive plan (Resolution 01-2025). The plan updates land-use guidance and an implementation table for the unincorporated county; one supervisor objected, saying tribal lands and chapters were not sufficiently included.
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt an updated countywide comprehensive plan, approving Resolution 01-2025 during its January 2025 meeting.
The plan, described by consultant Terry Hogan of Logan Simpson as a "30,000-foot policy document," sets future land-use designations, goals and policies across nine topic areas (transportation, land use, housing, economic growth, water and wastewater, public facilities, energy/renewables, environment/open space, and implementation). The board adopted the plan after a 60-day public review period and a planning commission recommendation in favor of adoption.
Nut graf: The update is intended to serve as the county'level blueprint for development of unincorporated areas and to guide subsequent regulatory updates (for example zoning and subdivision regulations). County staff and consultants emphasized the plan is advisory: it sets a policy framework that will inform, but not automatically change, local zoning or tribal and municipal plans.
In presenting the plan, Planning and Development Services staff said the update followed more than a year of outreach that included in-person open houses in each supervisor district, stakeholder interviews and a public website. Consultant Terry Hogan said the effort sought to balance "prosperity and preservation" and to provide short-, mid- and long-term implementation actions the county can pursue.
During public comment and board discussion Supervisor Benally raised concerns about the plan's scope and outreach to tribal governments and chapters, saying in part: "I don't like your plan. Bottom line... you're leaving two thirds of the county out." Planning staff replied that state law limits the county's regulatory authority to unincorporated, non-sovereign territory and that the update focused on areas where the county has statutory authority while attempting outreach to neighboring jurisdictions and tribal chapters.
The resolution was approved by a majority with a single opposing vote. The board directed staff to proceed with the plan as the county's guiding policy document; staff noted the comprehensive plan is a living document that can be amended and that the county will continue coordination with tribal, municipal and federal jurisdictions.
Ending: Adoption of the plan begins an implementation phase identified in the document. Staff told the board the plan includes 87 action items ranging from GIS and zoning-map audits to updates of area plans and future ordinance work; funding and timing for each action will be addressed separately.
