Douglas County will become more urban by 2020, especially in the
northern tier of Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker and Roxborough,
planners said. To handle projected growth, county planners have
revised the county’s comprehensive master plan.
Affordable housing guidelines, geographical community buffers
and high-density urban centers in the northern part of the county
are changes in the plan.
The county also wants to try harder to preserve the rural
character of the area. The pressure to develop nonurban areas will
increase, so the county needs to direct growth carefully and
protect open space, said county planner Deirdre Oss.
Before presenting the revision at a public hearing Monday night
in Castle Rock, county planners described the status of Douglas
County. The county grew more than 190 percent from 1990-2000, from
a population of 60,000 to 175,000. At that rate, between 2018 and
2030 the county is expected to build to capacity as home to 430,000
people.
More homes are leading to more stores, schools, day cares,
banks, fire stations, restaurants, health-care facilities and other
services. The county estimated that in 2020, 70 percent of the jobs
here will pay less than $20 per hour.
That fact renders most housing in the county out of reach for
the workforce, the county reported.
Adding guidelines for affordable housing to the plan will help
businesses, Oss said. Providing primary workforce housing is key to
keeping consumers’ costs down. It is also a responsibility the
county has toward seniors, people with disabilities and lower
income workers who teach, fight fires, work in health care and
banks, etc., Oss said.
The revision demands provisions for attainable housing and
cultural arts, whereas no mention was made in previous plans.
Water-efficient landscaping, multimodal transportation and
energy-efficient homes are other new ingredients.
The water plan was updated in 1998, so no revisions were in this
master plan.
The county plan considers Parker and Castle Rock’s master plans.
The revised county map shows Parker and Castle Rock boundary
“rounding out” the shape of the towns. Castle Rock’s master plan
also is in the process of being revised.
Cooperation among Parker, Castle Rock, Lone Tree and Larkspur is
encouraged on this, and all, issues.
A master plan user’s guide was added for residents and
developers. A way to track the public comments about plans also is
included. Also added was a U.S. 85 corridor study and Pike National
Forest guideline.
The plan wants wildlife controlled. It simultaneously encourages
incentives for wildlife conservation and “minimizing human/wildlife
interactions.”
A new definition designates 2.5- to 17.4-acre “semirural” lots
and 35-acre rural lot categories.
Louviers, Franktown and Sedalia retain their rural village
status in the revised plan.
Perry Park’s separated urban boundary changed. A northeastern
chunk of geographically undevelopable land was axed. Three hundred
acres near Sageport will be part of unincorporated, nonurban
Douglas County.
There are six new “nonurban” areas. Only one, Northeast Douglas
County, is recommended for development of semirural level or 2.5 to
17.5 acres per home. The other nonurban areas are Pike Forest
Foothills, Chatfield, Cherry Valley, High-Plateau area and the West
Plum Creek area near Sedalia.
Any development is recommended to be at least 17 acres per
lot.
The county added a map of shifting bedrock area from Roxborough
to Perry Park. Houses built south of Chatfield have experienced
significant shifting since their completion several years
ago.
Nearly all the people at the public hearing were residents of
Grandview Estates and Stonegate. Dozens said they wanted the area
between Parker and Lone Tree to remain an open, rural buffer
between the two communities.
“I know that technically, this is not a rezoning. But the master
plan document says that the county supports rezonings to be
consistent with the master plan map,” said Grandview resident Jim
Shuford. “If you approve this, you’re already rezoning
it.”
The proposed plan will replace the 1992 version. For two years,
Douglas County planning staff members have been revising the master
plan. The plan is meant to be a “living” document that needed to be
updated to fit the times, county planners said.
“Eighty-seven percent of our growth using this master plan
occurred in urban areas such as Highlands Ranch, Parker and Castle
Rock,” Oss said. “That shows that the plan worked.”
Public transit is needed in northern Douglas County, Oss said.
In the transportation section, commuter trains, pedestrian-oriented
neighborhoods and better county and regional transit planning is
recommended. Travel reduction methods also are encouraged when
planning more growth.
The planning commission was expected to vote Tuesday night
whether to approve the proposed plan. Nearly 200 people listened to
the presentation and dozens commented on the revised
plan.
If approved by the planning commission, the revised guidelines
will apply to new development applications. In case of overwhelming
public testimony Tuesday night, hearing dates are also reserved for
May 7-8.