Chaffee County adopts inaugural Sustainable Development Plan after public comment

The Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners voted to adopt the county's inaugural Sustainable Development Plan after staff briefed the board on the plan's development and available funding.

The plan, prepared by Lotus Engineering, was described by county staff as the outcome of stakeholder meetings held in 2022'023 and organized into ten topic domains including equity, resilience, water, energy, transportation, waste and resources, working landscapes, health, development and recreation. Staff said the county has been awarded a $187,500 grant from the Colorado Energy Office to fund a two-year position to lead implementation efforts and that the plan was delivered to the county in final format less than a week before the meeting.

County staff told the board the Sustainable Development Plan grew from a goal in the Chaffee County Comprehensive Plan adopted in December 2020 (identified in staff comments as goal 5.8 on page 36) and was funded through restricted commissioner-designated funds. Staff said Lotus Engineering facilitated stakeholder sessions and provided a prioritization methodology that ranked proposed actions by impact, feasibility and cost; the plan is intended as a guiding framework that staff and commissioners can return to and refine as priorities and resources are identified.

During public comment, Dr. Wendy Gordon, the county's former senior natural resources planner, criticized the timing and public outreach for the document. "There's a 70 page sustainable development plan to adopt that the public has not seen," Gordon said, adding that steering committee members and other participants had not been given a final version to review before the meeting. Gordon urged the board to share the document with the steering committee and the public and to create a process for public feedback before formal adoption.

Staff responded that the intent had been for the commission to become familiar with the final formatted deliverable before broad public outreach and that, if the commission directs it, staff and the consultant will bring the plan back to public forums and the previous steering participants for further discussion. Staff noted the grant award and the funded position will provide capacity to lead implementation and public engagement in the coming two years.

A motion to adopt the Sustainable Development Plan was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The staff presentation and the adopted plan state the document will be a living guidance tool to be refined and circulated for additional public input and implementation planning.

Next steps discussed by staff and commissioners include posting the plan online, coordinating outreach to municipalities and stakeholders, and using the awarded grant funding to pilot an implementation coordinator position.