Carbon County adopts comprehensive plan and Greenways, Trails and Open Space plan

The Board of Commissioners of Carbon County on June 5, 2025, voted to adopt the county'wide Comprehensive Plan and the Greenways, Trails and Open Space Plan following a presentation by the plan'project manager and a recording that the plans have been advertised and reviewed as required.

The plans, prepared through a 16-month planning process that started in January 2024, set goals and implementation steps across four priority themes for the comprehensive plan'housing, outdoor economy, infrastructure and placemaking'and parallel themes for the greenways/trails plan focused on being connected, protected and plentiful.

Project manager Tim Staub told the commissioners the work followed a standard planning progression of discovery and outreach, envisioning and capacity building, plan development and then adoption. "So we prepared 2 planning documents for the county, both of them, running parallel to each other, and both so by following the same process where we did a discovery and outreach phase," Staub said during his presentation. He said the team used pop-up engagement at county events and meetings with local stakeholders because in the post-pandemic environment fewer residents attend traditional public meetings.

Key findings summarized in the plan, Staub said, include differing housing demands by geography and a loss of housing stock because out-of-county buyers are purchasing second homes and driving up local prices. The plan also documents rising childcare costs'an estimated 12% increase for families and up to 40% for single parents over five years'and notes that roughly 60% of people using county recreational facilities live within 50 miles, based on cell-phone tracking the consultants summarized.

Each plan contains theme chapters with goals, objectives, implementation guides, an implementation table that lists priorities, timelines, likely lead agencies and potential funding sources, and a grants-and-loans reference to help launch projects. Staub said the plans were advertised, placed on the county website and reviewed and recommended for adoption by the county planning commission; adjoining counties and local municipalities received copies for comment.

Commissioners voted to adopt the comprehensive plan (motion recorded in the agenda as "Motion adopt 25 0 1 15") and the Greenways, Trails and Open Space plan ("Motion adopt 25 0 16"). The board recorded affirmative votes for each motion.

The plans include suggested lead implementers for actions such as capital improvements planning, child-care access strategies and regional infrastructure coordination. The project team also flagged implementation aids drawn from other counties and municipal examples and provided a prioritized short-term list to guide initial grant-seeking.

The county will make the adopted documents available on its website and commissioners said they expect to begin taking steps to implement high-priority items and to accept public comments as they move to execution.