Public Services Committee recommends Cheyenne DDA's 2024 plan of development with one dissent

The Cheyenne Public Services Committee voted Feb. 18 to recommend approval of the Downtown Development Authority's 2024 plan of development, a strategic document that lays out visions, outreach results and an implementation matrix for downtown projects. The recommendation will go to the full City Council, with one committee member announcing an intention to vote no at the council meeting.

The motion to adopt the resolution was moved by Councilman Wyatt and seconded by Dr. Michelle Aldridge; the committee approved the recommendation by voice vote with one recorded dissent from Councilman Moody, who said he wanted stronger emphasis on sidewalks and donated parking in the plan before supporting it.

Charles Bloom, planning and development director, presented a memorandum responding to public hearing questions and noted the city and the DDA had worked with Logan Simpson, the consultant, on outreach. Bloom summarized engagement figures: the first questionnaire drew 351 responses (125 respondents indicating downtown property ownership) and a follow‑up visioning questionnaire drew 410 responses (148 indicating property ownership). Bloom also detailed email engagement statistics and said staff was working to expand the DDA's email list for property owners.

Bloom told the committee staff had identified implementation table additions to be included before final reading, including items on sidewalk repair and CIG/FIP grant references. He said discussions with the consultant were underway to add language on sidewalk repairs and grant programs to the implementation matrix ahead of final council consideration.

Bloom also addressed public safety and pedestrian measurement questions. He said the city had used Laramie County Sheriff's Office information to note that 56 registered offenders had an address listed within the downtown area, and he provided a breakdown: 19 at the county jail, seven at the Cheyenne Transitional Center, 25 residing at a single hotel complex, and five in individual dwelling units in the district. "We have 56," Bloom said, referring to the registered‑offender count.

Members of the DDA and downtown stakeholders urged adoption while reiterating willingness to collaborate on implementation. Brian Bau, a DDA board member and task force participant, said the plan sought to "take a whole bunch of plans from the past and create a path forward that we can do something with instead of plan more and over and over." Wendy Volk, a DDA board member, described the DDA's role in matching grants and said the DDA levies itself to fund grants, producing "approximately $400,000 a year" for marketing and capital improvement grants.

Committee members raised questions about communication with property owners, whether the DDA retained email lists from Visit Cheyenne, and whether recommendations in the plan implied a return to metered parking. Councilwoman Aldridge and others said they did not intend to return to parking meters; staff said references to parking strategies reflected analysis and that meter reimplementation had not been proposed.

The committee voted to forward the resolution to the City Council with a recommendation to approve and one no vote at the committee level. Committee members and staff said they would continue refining implementation language on sidewalk repairs, snow removal and other near‑term priorities before final adoption.