Downtown master‑plan update launches public outreach; building heights flagged for discussion

City planning staff and private consultants told the City Council they have begun a year‑long update to Downtown Colorado Springs’ master plan, with a public engagement schedule and two concurrent drafting tracks: implementation strategies for catalytic projects and traditional planning guidance for land use and urban design.

Why it matters: The update will guide future zoning and development decisions downtown; early stakeholder meetings and the planning team identified building heights as a likely point of community debate that will be considered along with mobility, public realm and maintenance/management of downtown assets.

Ryan Tieferthaler, Urban Planning Manager for the city, introduced the update and said staff and several city departments are supporting the effort as it proceeds through 2025. Chelsea Gondek, Director of Planning and Mobility for the Downtown Partnership, told council the downtown has seen substantial private investment: “we are over $2,400,000,000 in investment since 2013,” she said, and the 2016 plan’s goals and action steps had produced visible projects downtown.

Consultant Mark Delatore of MIG described a three‑part scope for the update: refine vision and goals, identify catalytic projects and produce a traditional master plan covering land use, urban design and connectivity, guided by economics and implementation strategies. The consultant team expects a roughly 12‑month process with community engagement milestones including focus groups, a large community survey and in‑person events planned for spring and fall.

The first online survey already closed and the team said it received nearly 900 responses to date. Delatore said the project will use approachability measures for in‑person events rather than the traditional open‑house format and will provide an interactive online platform for commenting on draft documents.

Council members pushed on outreach scope and content. Council member Henjem asked whether engagement would span the city’s 200 square miles; Delatore and staff said events will be focused in the downtown area, though staff are open to distributing materials more widely and holding events that reach outlying districts. Council member Donaldson pressed on who received the survey and on its demographic reach — staff said they had used Downtown Partnership lists, city communications and social media but did not have a single distribution count available in the work session.

Building heights were raised repeatedly by council and stakeholders. Ryan Tieferthaler reviewed downtown zoning history: a 2009 form‑based code removed some prior height maximums and the 2016 master plan did not change zoning controls. He told council that the master‑plan update and a concurrent code rewrite (form‑based code updates) will proceed together so council can consider plan and code changes concurrently. Mark Delatore said building heights are likely to be discussed as part of the master plan and that the team had already fielded that issue during focus groups.

Ending: Staff and consultants said they will continue engagement, return draft recommendations for review, and present the master‑plan update later in the year. Council members asked staff to broaden outreach to non‑downtown neighborhoods and to ensure that draft code changes and plan updates are circulated together for public review.