The Central City Planning Commission (CCPC) approved updates to Chapter 3 of the Comprehensive City Plan at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 4.
The third chapter of the Central City Comprehensive City Plan (Comp Plan) is dedicated to issues of revenue, core services, and infrastructure. The chapter outlines broad goals and policy suggestions for the city’s future and the current state of City revenue and infrastructure.
Much of the chapter is dedicated to the need for expanding Outdoor and Indoor recreation spaces, which includes selecting a traffic circulation model, expanding both shuttles and bus services, and expanding bike and foot traffic options within the city. The Board was especially interested in the prospect of increasing the accessibility of walkways and transportation in residential areas, especially considering the city’s “growing and aging population.” The suggestions outlined in the chapter as of the Wednesday meeting included increasing signage and constructing more accessible stairways for residents.
Much of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the language of proposals, whether the plan could be condensed at certain points, and whether statistics and numbers from the previous years’ report could be updated with more recent data. Several sections, like Fire and Law Enforcement and the subhead dedicated to water infrastructure, still needed to be proofed by other agencies before the chapter could be approved.
The CCPC released a Comprehensive City Plan every 2-4 years, according to documents available on the Commission’s website. The purpose of the plans is to provide a vision for the City’s future with specific broad and specific goals as well as various policy objectives, according to the 2020 Comprehensive City Plan. The City Planning Commission, being an advisory body, does not change or set regulations, but rather outlines recommendations for the City’s decision-makers.
An artist who identified herself as Lauren briefly addressed the board during public comment to inquire about plans for the Belvedere Theater, which she hoped could be turned into an artists’ space. The Belvedere Theater, a historic landmark in Central City, was acquired by Gilpin County in 2015 and is undergoing restorations to become a community center..
The Board assured her that the theater will be reserved for community use and that previous conversations included discussion of creating an artist space in the basement of the theater, although there were no evident set plans yet.
The document is still being revised and updated with more specific statistics and language considerations before it is published.
The CCPC meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. (unless otherwise indicated on their website). They meet in the City Council Chambers - 141 Nevada Street, Central City. Go to https://centralcity.colorado.gov/ meetings for more information on their meetings and to join online.
