The finalization of the Strategic Master Plan
NOTE: SMP Public Hearings are on April 2 and April 9. The Planning Commission agendas are HERE for Zoom links. Public Notices are HERE.
The four hours of deliberation on the Strategic Master Plan by the Park County Planning Commission on March 19, 2025, was insightful and engaging. It was the first time I’d dropped in via Zoom, and I’m glad I did.
It’s not that I didn’t have better things to do. Still, given my thoughts on Commission Chair Dave Wissel’s “new paradigm,” as it relates to the Planning Commission’s activities, it was incumbent on me to Zoom in and see for myself what the Planning Commission was up to.
The Planning Commission is responsible for creating and adopting a Strategic Master Plan without inappropriate or statutorily unsanctioned interference from the County Commissioners or County Manager. The Board of County Commissioners has the sole statutory power to approve or not approve the Planning Commission’s work product. Period.
Once the Board of County Commissioners approves the Strategic Master Plan adopted by the Planning Commission, it remains an advisory document. The BOCC certainly has the authority to make all or portions of the SMP binding by including them in the county’s zoning, platting, planned unit development, or other land development regulations via its quasi-judicial process, i.e., ordinance or ordinance amendment.
The Planning Commission meeting of March 19, 2025, chaired by Scott Dodge, with participation by the other five commissioners—Susan Jones (Hartsel), Garrison Genschorck (Bailey), Greg Johnson (Fairplay), Cyndie Sherriff (Bailey), Cathy Leslie (Alternate)—was an exercise in finalization. I’m uncertain how many meetings regarding the SMP have been held. This one, though, clearly revealed a great deal of thoughtful work had already been done to assemble the document. Several questions and issues remained, but I’m sure the commissioners were looking toward the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Per statute, after the planning commission has a finished product, the next step is for the commission to hold public hearings on the new SMP.
Chair Dodge shared the latest revised plan on the screen and plodded through it, page by page. Several issues popped up during the meeting: affordable housing, industrial and light industrial zones, addendums (county-wide survey), the several roundtables conducted throughout the county, the county-wide citizen survey digest, placing workforce housing into the document rather than in an addendum, emphasizing rental units relative to affordable housing, deed restrictions, and several other issues.
Chair Dodge, at Commissioner Johnson’s suggestion, explained that the commission decided to sever land use regulations from this update of the SMP, stating, “The process should be [to] complete the Strategic Master Plan, then go into land use regulations at that point if necessary.”
My only negative comment about the presentation was the rambling narratives from one commissioner, which were specific to one part of the county and irrelevant to finalizing the SMP.
I was comforted that I did not see or hear any elected county commissioner or the county manager hovering about the planning commissioners. However, I could not see the seating area in the back of the room, though I suspect Chair Dodge would have revealed the presence of those folks if they had been there.
So, for what it’s worth, excellent work, you guys. (I guess I can say, guys, now that Executive Order has eliminated Wokeness from the lexicon.)
We do need to be diligent in following the Strategic Master Plan as it goes through the process. Especially when the elected county commissioners get ahold of it when, as always, Willy says it best: “Now let it work. Mischeif, thou art afoot. Take thou what course it wilt.”
