Larimer County seeks to standardize planning advisory committee bylaws; commissioners favor aligning membership sizes

Rebecca Everett, Larimer County Community Development director, presented proposed bylaw changes on Jan. 13 to align purpose statements for three planning advisory committees: Estes Valley Planning Advisory Committee (EVPAC), La Porte Area Planning Advisory Committee (LAPAC) and Red Feather Lakes Planning Advisory Committee (RFLPAC).

Everett said staff revised the purpose statements to standardize language while preserving geographic references and adopted plans specific to each area. Proposed edits clarified the committees' two-way communication role with the Board of County Commissioners, added a role in recommending an annual work plan (subject to BOCC approval), and sought clearer wording about review of quasi-judicial and legislative items while reiterating that decision authority rests with the BOCC.

Commissioners discussed committee composition and membership counts. Everett and commissioners noted existing differences: RFLPAC currently has a bylaw minimum of nine members and a maximum of 13; LAPAC and EVPAC are written with seven-member panels in current materials though staffing pages reflected vacancies. EVPAC has a unique constraint in its bylaws that no more than two committee members may live inside Estes Park city limits, a provision staff said would remain unchanged. Commissioners expressed support for consistency and suggested reducing RFLPAC's minimum toward seven to align across committees, but they also discussed phasing any change so it would not remove current members mid-term.

LAPAC had asked staff whether business owners should be explicitly included as eligible committee members and whether the county intended limits on how many business owners could serve. Everett said business owners are included as potential members for all three committees; commissioners said they preferred to retain flexibility and handle overrepresentation through the appointment and interview process rather than add a strict numeric limit. Commissioners said liaisons play a role in advising appointments and that interview screening can prevent inappropriate overrepresentation.

Commissioners also discussed committee roles when community issues fall outside a planning advisory committee's scope. Everett said the language is intentionally broad to allow the committees to flag community concerns (for example about schools) but that commissioner liaisons and staff should help determine whether a topic fits within a committee's remit or should be routed elsewhere.

On timing and next steps, Everett said staff would bring a revised community development work plan to the BOCC on Jan. 27, 2025, and that bylaw changes could be phased in as vacancies occur; she noted some committee terms expire at the end of 2025, providing an opportunity to recalibrate membership numbers. Commissioners asked staff to return with draft bylaw language that reflects the discussed alignment and a plan for phased implementation so existing members are not displaced mid-term.

No formal vote was taken to change bylaws at the Jan. 13 work session; the BOCC directed staff to proceed with drafting standardized language and to return with the revised work plan on Jan. 27.