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County and city planners outline next steps for Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update
Summary
Planners presented a timeline and seven focus areas for the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update and asked commissioners for policy guidance as the project moves into phase 3 scenario modeling and public change requests this summer and fall.
Boulder County and City of Boulder planning staff presented an update and requested policy guidance Wednesday on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP) major update, outlining a multi-phase timetable, public engagement plan and seven focus areas staff will study in phase 3.
Hannah Hippley, Long Range Planning Division manager for Boulder County, told commissioners the project is moving from Phase 2 into Phase 3 and that staff will develop and analyze concepts for change this summer: "We're now wrapping up phase 2 and about to dive into phase 3, which is where we're hoping you can help provide some guidance and direction on phase 3 today." The work will include scenario modeling, case studies, targeted community engagement and a public change-request window expected in mid-August to early September.
Why it matters: the BVCP is the joint planning framework that guides land use and policy at the edges of the city and in the county’s Boulder Valley planning area. Changes to the plan can affect future land-use decisions, annexations, housing and transportation strategies and county-city collaboration on climate and infrastructure.
What staff presented - Timeline and process: staff presented an updated schedule that began project kickoff in 2024, completed existing-conditions work in Phase 1, and plans for Phase 3 analysis through late 2025 with drafting in 2026 and anticipated joint adoption steps in mid-2026. Staff noted additional community engagement planned for July–October and a targeted public request window in mid-August to early September. - Focus areas: staff identified seven topics for deeper analysis in Phase 3 — climate action, inclusive economy, food systems, housing choice and opportunity, multicultural/multigenerational community, safety (including disaster resilience and active-transportation safety), and travel options (multimodal mobility). Staff framed these areas as interrelated and said further modeling and policy testing will follow. - Future Land Use Map and planning-area framework: staff proposed revisiting the BVCP future land-use map and the planning-area (Area 1/2/3) framework to clarify how unincorporated neighborhoods that function like developed areas should be treated, including whether the map currently reflects existing conditions versus long-term desired outcomes.
Council and commissioner discussion Board and commission members asked whether the staff would treat forecast population and employment growth as fixed or as variables that policy can influence; staff said baseline forecasts come from the state demographer but that Phase 3 will test policy alternatives and their effects on jobs, population, transportation and emissions. Several commissioners stressed the need to link scenario modeling and policy options to measurable outcomes (for example, how different approaches change projected emissions or housing supply).
City of Boulder comprehensive planning senior manager Christopher Johnson said changes to language and organization are intended to make the plan more accessible to the public: "It really, it's a, a, it was a revision based on terminology and something that we thought that the community would better understand." Several commissioners urged clearer mapping and stronger linkage between focus areas (for example, food systems and farmworker housing) and called for more data-driven modeling before drafting policy language.
Next steps Phase 3 will include scenario modeling, additional community engagement in July and August, the public change-request window in mid-August through early September, a statistically valid survey, and follow-up meetings with boards and commissions through late 2025. Staff indicated they will coordinate further with regional partners and subject-matter agencies (RTD, CDOT, Boulder Valley School District, University of Colorado) where appropriate.
Staff said they will return to boards and commissions in August with refined concepts and preliminary analysis and aim for a draft plan in early 2026 and final joint adoption processes by mid-2026.
