Flagstaff planning commission schedules May 2 regional-plan retreat; ballot set for May 2026

Sarah Dector, comprehensive and neighborhood planning manager for the City of Flagstaff, told the Planning and Zoning Commission on April 23 that staff will hold a joint regional-plan retreat on May 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at City Hall to review elements of a draft plan that will later go to public hearings and a mail-in ballot in May 2026.

The retreat is a joint meeting of the City of Flagstaff, Coconino County and the county planning commission; staff emphasized the session will be highly interactive, using breakout groups, facilitators and exercises to seek policy-level feedback rather than a line-by-line edit. "We originally scheduled it to be at the AquaPlex... we are going to move that meeting to this location," Dector said, explaining the location change because the AquaPlex meeting room remains under construction.

The retreat matters because the regional plan serves two purposes: an amendment to the Coconino County comprehensive plan and a standalone general plan for the City of Flagstaff. Dector said staff have incorporated public comments into a working draft and are focusing internal review on implementability. "We've incorporated all the public comments into a draft that we are still reviewing internally," she said, and noted the update process received more than 2,400 public comments.

Staff described the retreat agenda as four work sessions: an overview and reorganization of the draft plan, a two-hour afternoon session on the future growth illustration, a session on trail and walking/biking path mapping, and a session on creating a sense of place (design and community character). Facilitators from Cascadia Partners—Sachi Arakawa and Alex Steinberger—will lead in-person facilitation; Ali Pratt will support online participation. Dector said the exercises will be captured in the meeting minutes so the public record reflects what participants do and say during the retreat.

On specific issues, staff signaled several choices: the draft removes implementation guidelines from each chapter (a change the regional plan committee previously endorsed), the future growth illustration will be treated as a "sandbox" for discussion rather than a finalized map, and trail mapping will attempt to balance showing walking and bicycling routes while avoiding unintended trespass or private-property conflicts. Dector noted the statutory requirement is to show walking and bicycling paths rather than label them "trails," which has driven some public concern about property impacts.

Dector said staff plan to place the regional plan on a mail-in ballot in May 2026. "We will schedule the ballot initiative for May 2026," she said, explaining legislative timing for calling a ballot initiative and the multi-step review process needed before voters see it. She described the local adoption mechanics: putting the initiative on the ballot requires a supermajority vote of City Council to place it there, while the ballot outcome itself is decided by a simple majority of mailed ballots. Dector noted the last regional plan passed with about 78% of the vote.

Commissioners and staff discussed implementation and amendment procedures. Dector said Coconino County does not maintain a standalone land-use map in its comprehensive plan, so the joint regional map provides county area plans with a single reference. She also said title 9 and title 11 of state and local code matter for statutory review and for how amendments and findings are applied in practice. Dector described one change in the draft: adding administrative amendment categories so minor administrative edits (for example, updating a web address) do not require formal amendments.

Several commissioners raised topic-specific concerns. Commissioner Mary Norton asked how staff have incorporated legal and technical comments and whether the retreat should focus on organization or content; Dector replied staff will distribute a smaller packet the Monday before the retreat that outlines the agenda and priorities and that the retreat will ask commissioners to check strategic priorities rather than vet policy-level details. Commissioner CJ Lukey flagged transportation and long-distance commuting as items of interest, noting commuter flows from Williams; Dector said the plan emphasizes housing near transit as a cost-effective approach and that scenario planning included low-funding and high-growth scenarios to test resilience.

Staff told commissioners to expect an agenda packet early the week of the retreat and that each work session will include a public comment period. Dector estimated 10–20 members of the public might attend the full day or portions of it and asked commissioners to refresh themselves on board-and-commission etiquette for interacting with members of the public during breaks.

The next step is the May 2 retreat; staff will provide the packet in advance and later schedule public hearings and council review before any ballot initiative is finalized.