LAC News:What: Round One — Open House, Visioning and Community Mapping Meetings.
When and where:
- Monday, March 14, 6:30 p.m. at White Rock Fire Station;
- Wednesday, March 16, 6:00 p.m. at UNM Los Alamos Lecture Hall, Building 2, Room 230; and
- Saturday, March 19, 9 a.m. at Los Alamos Golf Course Community Room.
Los Alamos County is updating its comprehensive plan and will be holding three public visioning meetings as kick-offs to shape the direction of development in the county.
These meetings will provide an opportunity for the community to discuss future population level, economic diversification, residential density, neighborhood concerns, and how much open space is desired. The meetings will also provide an opportunity for the community to identify other issues that the plan should address.
All residents living in the county and employees working in the county are invited and encouraged to participate in the workshops. The County will hold meetings in different locations and on different days of the week for the convenience of participants, who may attend any of the meetings.
All three meetings will have the same format. They will be interactive visioning workshops, allowing participants the opportunity to share ideas through hands-on
activities and facilitated discussion. These activities will guide the plan in reflecting the community’s values, priorities and goals.
Public involvement is essential to building a good framework for a community plan and the County is eager to involve the community in the process, beginning with Round One. Round Two in the spring and summer will include public meetings and Planning and Zoning Commission meetings on detailed topics. The Planning and Zoning Commission and County Council will also conduct a Round Three set of meetings for plan adoption in the fall.
For additional information contact Tamara Baer, Los Alamos County Community Development Department: (505).662.8055 or Steve Burstein, Planner, Architectural Research Consultants, Inc.: (505).842.1254.
Los Alamos County Comprehensive Plan update quick facts:
The comprehensive plan is an official public document adopted by the Los Alamos County Council as a policy guide to decisions about the physical development of the community over the ensuing 20 to 30 years.
The current county plan was developed in 1987. Subsequently, the County adopted a vision statement and policy plan in 2004 and various plan elements, but did not adopt a unified plan. County Council gave direction in 2015 to create a new comprehensive plan as a high-level policy document to guide future development of the County. One of the tasks of the 2016 Comprehensive Plan is to evaluate and incorporate prior plan elements as needed into the new comprehensive plan format.
In February 2016, the Council adopted the 2016 Strategic Leadership Plan, providing more specific and focused goals, some of which pertain to the comprehensive plan. The schedule for completion of the new plan update is December 2016. The planning process will involve future community engagement opportunities and the County looks forward to the community’s continued engagement in the process.
