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Coconino planners recommend adoption of Envision 2045 comprehensive plan update after broad outreach
Summary
Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend the county's complete comprehensive plan update, Envision 2045, after staff described extensive public outreach, new goals and an implementation program; commissioners discussed priorities including invasive/native plant coordination.
The Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt Envision 2045, a complete update to the county's comprehensive plan.
County long-range planner Melissa Shaw told commissioners the update replaces the 2015 plan and incorporates new maps, data, vision statements, goals and a 50-item implementation program. Shaw said staff began outreach in 2023 and conducted focus groups, intercept interviews, a statistically valid telephone survey and more than 1,800 in-person contacts as part of the public participation plan.
Shaw said the draft plan centers on three value statements'preserving a rural lifestyle, stewarding the natural environment and supporting diverse communities and services'and organizes goals and policies into chapters for land use, circulation, economic resilience and housing, natural environment and water resources, community services and cultural resources. High-priority implementation items proposed include a countywide housing needs assessment, a regional multimodal connectivity plan, and a sustainability and resilience plan.
Commissioners discussed several parts of the draft during the public hearing. Commissioner Best urged elevating an implementation action that coordinates native- and invasive-plant programs across jurisdictions; Best argued earlier and in the hearing that plant management should be treated as a countywide priority tied to fire risk and long-term ecosystem health. Commissioner Hayward and others pressed for balance, saying the commission must prioritize limited staff resources and that some topics should remain medium priority.
Shaw summarized changes from the joint work sessions with the Board of Supervisors and presented recommended minor text edits, including clarified terminology for references to Native American and indigenous communities and a paragraph noting demographic and economic changes since 2015 (COVID-19, Navajo Generating Station closure, drought and recent wildfires).
Vice Chair Wilson opened the meeting for public comment; no new written comments were submitted on the public hearing draft aside from those documented in joint work sessions and the packet. After discussion the commission voted to forward the draft, with the changes summarized in staff attachment A, to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled for a public hearing in November. If the supervisors adopt the plan it will supersede the 2015 comprehensive plan and trigger the implementation actions described in the document.
