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Box Elder presents draft comprehensive plan update; public review set for May
Summary
Planning director Laura Patton presented a draft update to Box Elder's comprehensive plan, highlighting strong public engagement, six guiding principles and a future land use map; the council was asked to review the draft and the public comment period will run through May.
Laura Patton, planning director, presented the city's draft comprehensive plan update at the Box Elder City Council meeting, outlining the document's guiding principles, chapter highlights and a planned public review period. She said the city's last comprehensive plan was adopted in 2014 and that staff and consultants used survey and event-based outreach to inform the draft.
Patton said the city received substantial engagement during the update process, including one survey that returned about 400 responses. "We accomplished 83% of the goals on that plan," she said of the 2014 document, and described the 2025 update as building on those completed initiatives while responding to changed conditions.
The draft organizes goals under six guiding principles Patton summarized as affordable housing; diverse economic vitality; community well-being and engagement; nature-integrated recreation; sustainable infrastructure; and placemaking. Tallgrass (Tallgrass Landscape Architecture) produced visualizations and renderings to illustrate possibilities along a main corridor, and Patton emphasized that the images are conceptual and not regulatory. "Box Elder of 2014 is not the same Box Elder of 2025," she said, arguing the plan must reflect current growth.
On land use, the draft includes a descriptive land use table (noted on page 35 of the packet) to help staff interpret plan designations during development review. Patton described an "opportunity corridor" near I-90, Highway 1416, Ellsworth and Exit 63 identified as likely to attract commercial development because of interstate access, while residential growth is expected in other locations.
The housing chapter relies on a 2022 housing study and recommends a more active city role in affordable housing, including forming a local housing authority to pursue targeted funding and programs. "We are low on senior housing. Actually, we have no senior housing," Patton said, noting the council could revisit the housing snapshot as projects move forward.
Transportation and utilities chapters propose updated master plans and prioritized capital-improvement lists without fixed dates, reflecting funding uncertainties. Staff noted an OLTC-funded transportation study will translate high-level corridor priorities into more detailed recommendations. For utilities, staff reported a water system model and facility planning underway, wastewater modeling in progress and a proposed master stormwater study that could yield FEMA credits.
Patton said Tallgrass organized implementation items by policy, collaboration, operations and projects and attached estimated timeframes and cost magnitudes. She proposed an annual report to the council and public to track progress and recommended the city accept public comments during a review period through the month of May before scheduling formal adoption steps.
The council did not take adoption action at the meeting; the presentation was informational and council members asked for time to review the draft. Patton also reported staff meetings with Mead County, Peyton County and Rapid City on planning-jurisdiction issues and said city staff will prepare draft interjurisdictional language and joint-powers options for council consideration.
