WSP04638

• File Number: 8136.500.10
• Description: Local Governments - Municipalities - Colorado Springs
• State: CO
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 1/1/1981
• Author: Colorado Springs
• Title: Community Profile for the City of Colorado Springs
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

planning decision-making.

One of the major purposes and/or benefits
of the comprehensive planning process is
improved coordination between the
various entities involved in planning and
decision-making in the area. A partial
list of the public agencies which affect
the quality-of-life in the community
includes the following: various Federal
and State agencies, the Pikes Peak Area
Council of Governments, EI Paso County,
the school districts and the various
municipal departments including Utilities,
Public Works, Police, Fire, Park and
Recreation, Community Development and
City Planning. In addition to these
agencies, there are several other semi-
public and private entities which are
involved in the planning process in the
community. Examples of these would
include the Library District, the Airport,
hospitals, Chamber of Commerce, private
landowners and others. The proposed
comprehensive planning process will
provide an opportunity for all of these
entities to better communicate and
coordinate their concerns, problems and
desires.

The end result of the planning process is a
comprehensive plan document which is an
expression of the direction in which the
community desires to move and the means
for ultimately progressing in this
direction. Such a plan is not the end of
the planning process; rather it is the
beginning point for directing activities
and programs to move the community
along in seeking to achieve the goals
recommended in the plan. The plan can:

-Provide a single source of information
and data on the City as well as the City's
policies regarding future development.

-Permit the opportunity for short-range
issues to be viewed in light of long-range
policies for the desirable development of
the City.

-Serve as a guide for private market
development decisions.

-Set the framework for zoning,
subdivision and other development
regulations, capital improvements
programming, budget decisions, etc.

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-Improve coordination among City
Departments and improve communication
with private interests.

-Improve the decision-making process by
providing factual information, planning
principles and adopted goals in a
comprehensive, unified form.

In the last decade, a number of plans have
been prepared by many of the agencies
mentioned earlier. As seen in Table I,
the list of these plans and reports is quite
extensive. Although most of these plans
dealt with a single topic and cannot be
considered a "comprehensive" plan, it is
important to consider each of these in the
current planning process. Since most of
these have been adopted by various
legislative bodies, they represent an
expression of public policy about various
aspects of the community. It is important
for these policies and plans to be
somewhat consistent with the policy
recommendations to be forthcoming in
the current planning process. In this way,
the future direction of the community
will be more in line with the direction
expressed in numerous plans approved
during the last ten years.

One of the plans listed in Table I is a
Comprehensive Plan for the City which
was approved "in concept" by the City
Council in 1977 after four years of work.
Since that time,there has been much
misunderstanding over the status of the
plan; its use as a guide for programs and
decisions has been ineffective and
inconsistent. It is hoped that a more
effective and useful set of poliCies and
directions will be generated and formally
adopted in the planning process now being
started.

As will be noted in the following pages,
the City faces many issues and pressures
that stem from projected growth in the
next twenty years. If the City hopes to

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