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Bluff planning commission reviews general plan update; seeks input on water, housing, active-transportation and future-use map
Summary
Town staff presented a cleaned-up draft of the Bluff general plan at the Sept. 26 work session, outlined required statutory updates and invited the commission’s input on housing, water policy and a future-use map showing potential gathering areas, an industrial/factory area, riparian-protection considerations and possible locations for large-scale
At a Sept. 26, 2025 work session, the Town of Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed a substantially revised draft of the general plan and sketched a draft future-use map the commission will refine before a targeted public hearing on Oct. 28.
Town staff said the updated general plan retains existing community goals but adds or updates sections required by state code and recent town work: an agricultural section, an expanded zoning overview, an updated airport section, a housing component, and a clearer implementation and capital-improvement program linkage. Erin Nelson, the town manager, and planning staff emphasized the goal of integrating the general plan with the town’s strategic plan and existing studies such as the active-transportation plan.
What staff asked of commissioners.
- Housing: staff asked commissioners to help deepen the housing section, especially around strategies that could improve affordability. Commissioners were invited to provide text or references ahead of the next review round.
- Water and infrastructure: staff updated the current-conditions water narrative but said policies and planning assumptions for culinary and wastewater systems need council direction. Staff flagged possible questions about how detailed the plan should be regarding Bluff Water Works or utility arrangements.
- Future-use map: staff circulated a hand-drawn mock-up showing potential future uses: a factory/industrial (FI) area near a gravel-pit parcel on the west side of town; potential gathering or amphitheater areas near the old transfer station and north of the old school; an active-transportation corridor roughly along the highway and a possible riparian-protection buffer along the river and major washes. The draft also notes a general area on the bluff bench east of Highway 191 as a likely place for larger-scale renewable development, while encouraging rooftop and residential renewables throughout the town.
Staff said they will convert the mock-up into GIS once the town obtains the original shapefiles for Bluff and asked commissioners to treat the map as a general-area, not parcel-specific, vision: map areas are illustrative and not a rezoning of specific private parcels.
Timeline and next steps. Staff said it is a tight schedule: the commission is expected to review a clean draft and consider recommending the general plan for public hearing at the next regular meeting. The draft plan would be posted around Oct. 15 for about two weeks of public review before the Oct. 28 hearing. Staff also asked commissioners to prioritize the housing, capital improvements (CIP) and the future-use map sections if they can contribute edits before the next meeting.
Other edits made in the draft include updated census and economic figures, a tightened vision statement, a land-acknowledgment paragraph and expanded transportation sections reflecting the active-transportation plan. Staff said some technical sections (for example, restrictive geography) drafted by outside experts will remain largely unchanged.
The commission and staff agreed to circulate a new map and the cleaned draft so commissioners can submit comments and suggested text before the next meeting.
