Commission reports nearly 50% return on 2025 general plan survey; staff outlines coding timeline

The Town of Castle Valley Planning and Land Use Commission on Oct. 9 reported roughly 188 returns — about a 48–49% response rate — on its 2025 general plan survey and discussed the timeline for coding responses and preparing materials for a possible public hearing in January.

Commission staff said about 389 surveys were sent, with a small number of returns for nondelivery and several duplicate mailings noted; the working tally on Oct. 9 was about 188 completed responses. Colleen Thompson and other volunteers reported progress on entering responses into a spreadsheet for analysis: one volunteer said they had entered about 60 surveys and others had assisted with smaller batches. “They take anywhere from 5 to 20 or even 30 minutes each because of the comments,” a commissioner said, describing the time needed to code qualitative responses.

Why it matters: the survey informs the town’s general plan update and will guide topics covered in the draft plan and any public hearings. Commissioners discussed a target schedule of preparing materials by the December meeting and holding a public hearing in January so the commission could consider action after the hearing.

Timing and next steps: commissioners said staff analyst OB (name given in earlier planning work) would perform analysis once the spreadsheet coding is complete; commissioners discussed having spreadsheet entries completed in the next couple of weeks to allow OB time to prepare. One commissioner noted personal scheduling conflicts; commissioners agreed to continue coding and to aim for December information distribution with a January public hearing.