Comprehensive Plan Worksession Leads to Additional Public Review Period

After an active discussion at the December 9 Mountain Village Town Council meeting, council members continued the year-long Comprehensive Plan amendment process into 2022, directing staff to revise the most recent proposed draft and allow for an additional two-week Public Comment Period from January 15 through February 1, 2022.

During the recent meeting, Mountain Village Interim Town Manager Paul Wisor, Planning, Development Services and Housing Director Michelle Haynes and consultants MIG presented public feedback to the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments.

Staff received over 130 comments during the three-week public comment period which ended on November 18, addressing a wide array of topics that were incorporated into the presented draft. Based on that community feedback, council focused their discussion on five main areas: hotbeds (hotbeds are lodging/accommodation type units similar to hotels), density within the Meadows neighborhood, open space, duplex development and community housing.

Town Council directed the following actions:

• Hotbeds: Council asked to reduce the list of potential hotbed sites to those that are found on vacant platted land in the Mountain Village (and appropriately zoned) and to move all “potential” sites, inclusive of those shown on open space, to an appendix.
• Density within the Meadows: A resident advisory board will be created to work with consultants and staff to further amend the Meadows subarea with a goal of addressing density and use. This board will be advertised and noticed to residents through Mountain Village channels.
• Open Space: Council decided to keep the six potential open space zoning designations consistent with the future land use map.
• Duplex development: References to single-family and duplex development in the Comprehensive Plan will be amended to simply state “single-family,” striking duplex references.
• Community Housing: Council wanted to better understand the linkage between housing and new development so we will add additional language to integrate the housing mitigation methodology and linkage study that is concurrently being drafted and soon to be adopted with the Comprehensive Plan. Council will also reexamine the town’s property inventory.

Council plans to continue its Comprehensive Plan discussion at its January 20, 2022 meeting, where council, staff and MIG will discuss a revised hotbed table, the Town-owned properties plan and the public benefits table.

“Hotbeds were clearly the issue members of the Mountain Village community focused on during the initial public comment period,” Wisor said. “Council provided clear direction to staff to deliver revisions for their consideration as soon as possible. Council, as well as members of the public, are also focused on housing for employees. The Town-owned properties plan plays a critical role in any housing solution, so council must take steps to finalize that plan so it may be properly accounted for in the Comprehensive Plan.”

Recognizing the value of community input, the council directed staff to work with MIG and publish an Amended Comprehensive Plan draft online by January 15, when the public will be given an additional review period to provide comment on the proposed revisions by February 1.

Following this new Public Review Period, staff and the MIG team will incorporate any edits as appropriate, and a further amended Comprehensive Plan will be heard by Town Council on February 18, 2022. Town Council will likely adopt a final draft of the Comprehensive Plan at its March 17, 2022 meeting.

All comments may be submitted through the online comment form found online at townofmountainvillage.com/comp-plan.

Along with the revised plan, Council also hopes to adopt a new housing mitigation policy in line with the direction provided by the Comprehensive Plan. It is anticipated that components of the mitigation policy will be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan.

“The Town Council and community have recognized how critical it is for new development to pay its way, specifically the linkage between housing and development,” Haynes said. “The linkage study and mitigation methodology will be discussed in a worksession at the joint Town Council and Design Review Board meeting on December 16, with anticipated adoption in the first quarter of 2022. This study is an important element that Town Council wishes to recognize in the Comprehensive Plan amendment update. We’ll look at these materials concurrently in the upcoming months.”

The public is invited to attend all hearings virtually or in person. Meeting info and Zoom log-in information will be available once meeting material is posted on the Mountain Village Town Council webpage. Meeting material is posted to the Town’s website the Friday before each meeting and will be publicly noticed per Town policy.
Schedule of events

• December 16, 2022 - December Joint Town Council & Design Review Board Meeting and housing mitigation methodology worksession.
• January 15, 2022 - Amended Comprehensive Plan Draft published online, beginning of Public Review Period
• January 20, 2022 – January Town Council Meeting and Town-owned properties plan, revised hotbed table and public benefits table worksession.
• February 1, 2022 – End of the Public Review Period
• February 11, 2022 – Public comment published online
• February 18, 2022 – February Town Council Meeting, Comprehensive Plan worksession and Housing Mitigation adoption on first reading
• March 17, 2022 – March Town Council Meeting and potential Comprehensive Plan Adoption