The Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the proposed Flagstaff Regional Land Use Plan update during its Oct. 29 study session, asking staff to clarify how the plan boundary, urban growth boundary and airport safety overlay would affect county parcels.

Melissa, a county long-range planner, told commissioners the regional plan is intended to function as a joint city–county document and that its purple boundary matches the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s transportation boundary. She said the plan’s policies are organized around two core priorities — housing attainability/equity and climate action — and four complementary priorities including natural resources and resilient services.

Commissioners pressed Melissa on why the MPO boundary produces parcel “cut-offs” in the parks-area plans and whether the county could revise the boundary. Melissa said the MPO boundary has been used for transportation funding and that changing it would require action through MetroPlan and the city. “If it touches a portion of a parcel, then it would include the whole thing,” she said, noting the plan follows existing parcel lines in most places.

The commission also discussed the plan’s future growth illustration and the urban growth boundary (UGB). Melissa described the UGB as a tool to identify areas where the city will limit expansion of services, and said an interactive, zoomable map is planned so the public can see parcel-level designations. Commissioners asked how the UGB relates to developable lands near Belmont and other communities; staff said much of the land outside the UGB is federal or otherwise not available for development and that the map reflects existing zoning and service assumptions.

Airport and public-safety issues surfaced when Vice Chair Wilson asked why Pulliam Airport appears as a county goal. Melissa said the plan supports the airport as a regional transportation hub and incorporates an expanded airport safety overlay to reflect new federal safety standards and the airport’s changed safety zones.

Melissa outlined the adoption schedule: the Flagstaff City Council adopted the plan Oct. 9, but city implementation is contingent on voter approval of a May 2026 initiative. The county’s Planning & Zoning hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3; depending on that outcome, staff has tentatively scheduled the Board of Supervisors hearing for Jan. 20, 2026. Melissa told commissioners the city’s adoption and the county schedule could result in county adoption occurring before the city’s May election becomes effective.

Why it matters: the regional plan covers communities where about two-thirds of the county’s population lives and will guide rezoning, subdivisions and capital-improvement decisions. Commissioners asked staff to provide more detail at the Dec. 3 hearing on the parcels that the plan partially touches, forest-management policies linked to wildfire and flood risk, and any proposed changes between the version the city adopted and the county draft.

Staff follow-up: Melissa said staff will provide parcel-level PDFs for areas of concern, compare the final city-adopted text with the county draft, and return with more detail about the airport overlay and specific forest-management and water-resource policies at the Dec. 3 hearing.