La Plata planning staff to refine street-width definitions after commission raises safety and cost concerns

The La Plata Planning Commission directed staff to refine definitions of primary, secondary and tertiary residential streets and to return with a more developed street-design policy at a December working session, after commissioners, staff and public-safety representatives debated emergency access, parking and long-term maintenance costs.

Director Dooley opened the policy discussion by noting the code currently sets minimums but that the definitions and minimum widths are written in ways staff finds ambiguous. "These design standards for all of our road classifications are simply minimum standards," Dooley said, adding that the code…