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Staff outlines in-house plan to meet state water-supply and strategic-growth requirements
Summary
City planning staff said Englewood can complete the state-required water-supply and strategic-growth elements largely in-house, drawing on a 2023 water-efficiency plan; staff recommended a phased process, regular commission check-ins and potential DOLA timeline flexibility.
City planning staff presented a phased approach on July 21 for meeting state requirements to add a water-supply element and a strategic-growth element to the comprehensive plan.
"My name is Dylan McBride. I'm the new long range planner for the city," Dylan McBride said, opening the study session and laying out the work plan. Staff recommended immediate coordination between planning and utilities, an assessment phase, policy goals development and eventual adoption as an appendix to the comprehensive plan.
Staff emphasized the practical benefits of existing work. Dylan noted Englewood completed a water-efficiency plan in 2023 and recent code updates that cover parts of the required analyses, allowing the city to pull existing forecasting and conservation material rather than starting from scratch. "We would be able to pull pretty directly from a lot of that plan and then update some of the analysis to meet more current conditions," he said.
City staff said the compliance deadline is driven by 2024 legislation and that the state (DOLA) scores communities’ compliance when prioritizing grants; not adopting the elements would keep the city eligible for grants but likely less competitive. Staff added DOLA has shown willingness to accept progress updates if a jurisdiction needs more time to complete the work.
Next steps described to commissioners included convening a core team (planning, utilities, redevelopment and affordable-housing staff), forming a technical advisory committee for periodic review, and returning to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council for recommendations and adoption.
