Douglas County Planning Commission forwards 2020 master plan update to county commissioners

Douglas County Planning Commission approved the county's 2020 master plan update and voted to forward the document to the Board of County Commissioners for final adoption.

The commission voted unanimously at its Nov. 17 meeting to approve the update, which reorganizes the plan into new elements — an executive summary and county profile, land use and historic preservation, agriculture and conservation, growth management and housing, economic development, public facilities, public safety and implementation — and incorporates edits made at special meetings held during October and November. The commission instructed staff to correct formatting, grammar and typographical errors before the plan is submitted to the commissioners.

The decision followed an extended public comment period and detailed line‑by‑line review by commissioners and county staff. Public commenters raised concerns about process and content — including requests from the Gardendale Ranchos community to restore language from a locally drafted community plan, appeals from the arts community for stronger cultural actions, questions about agricultural mapping and water data, and repeated complaints about the timing and availability of revised materials.

During the meeting commissioners made a series of targeted changes requested by staff, fire district officials, and members of the public. Notable amendments that were adopted by vote or unanimous consent included:

- Library language in the Public Facilities, Services and Recreation element was revised to reflect the library’s five‑year capital improvement planning process (approved by roll call, 5–0 at the time of the vote).

- A previously approved public safety policy (Policy PS‑19) was amended to remove volunteer fire departments from a specific list of entities tied to hazardous‑fuels reduction efforts (approved by roll call, 5–0 at the time of the vote).

- The commission added a new public‑safety policy asking the county to "consider" adoption of the wildland‑urban interface code and to encourage updates of community wildfire protection plans; commissioners chose the milder wording "consider" after discussion…