Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Planning Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission reviews draft three‑mile plan update and seeks more time for study
Summary
Commissioners held an extended study session on a draft 2026 three‑mile plan — a required annexation planning document — reviewing maps, seven subareas and proposed land‑use guidance; staff said the plan will be adopted into the comprehensive plan and recommended additional study before formal adoption.
The Castle Pines Planning Commission spent a substantial portion of its Feb. 26 meeting on a study session for the city’s draft 2026 three‑mile plan — the statutorily required guidance that informs potential future annexations and associated land‑use recommendations within three miles of city limits.
Community development staff opened by defining the three‑mile plan as ‘‘a master plan for annexation that helps guide future growth of unincorporated land of the lands that are within 3 miles of the city's boundary,’’ and reminded commissioners the plan does not itself annex property or change zoning. Staff said the city’s existing three‑mile plan materials had not been updated in the main report since 2014 and explained the draft organizes the area into seven subareas with proposed future land uses based on existing conditions, infrastructure and topographic constraints.
Staff reviewed GIS maps showing overlapping three‑mile boundaries with adjacent jurisdictions (Lone Tree, Parker and Castle Rock), road and interchange networks, fire and water service districts, and physical constraints such as steep slopes and floodplains that informed the land‑use recommendations. For example, staff proposed mixed‑use designations along the I‑25 corridor and Havana/French Ridge Road where urbanization continues; they proposed keeping steep or conservation areas as dedicated open space and proposing commercial nodes at major interchanges and a limited industrial designation along an existing rail corridor.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about how prescriptive the plan is, whether it would lock future zoning decisions and how overlap with neighboring cities would be handled. Staff emphasized the plan is guidance that ‘‘informs how a land should be zoned’’ if annexation proceeds and that the three‑mile plan will become part of the comprehensive plan per state statute. Commissioners requested additional time to digest the map packet and asked staff to schedule another study session before any formal adoption; staff proposed using the March 5 special meeting for a follow‑up study session and then returning for adoption considerations.
