Chaffee County Commissioners kicked off the Land Use Code Update project with consultant firm Logan Simpson on January 31st, 2022.

The Land Use Code Update project is an outgrowth of the priorities and goals named within the Chaffee County Comprehensive Plan adopted in December 2020.

The project’s objective is to assess and holistically update the County’s current Land Use Code and related processes, incorporating the key principles and recommendations from the Comprehensive Plan in order to codify new Land Use policy. The current Land Use Code was last fully updated in 2014. The project timeline forecasts having the updated code fully approved and adopted by late 2023. The project will approach the update through a least four distinct phases and modules, each focusing on a subset of code sections and each with its own series of public engagement, iterative review, and public hearings.

Information and ongoing updates for the Land Use Code Update project will be shared at www.TogetherChaffeeCounty.org, where the public can also sign up for the mailing list to receive updates directly through email.

The County launched a competitive proposal process in July 2021 and, following multiple interviews with five firms, selected Logan Simpson in partnership with White & Smith, LLC, to facilitate the project. The Logan Simpson team is now finalizing the project management plan, overall schedule, and engagement roll-out.

The public-facing work for the Code Update initiative will start in late February with a wide variety of input events, engagement activities, and feedback platforms. Logan Simpson will manage a community-wide strategy to gather input from residents and numerous stakeholder groups through several mechanisms including an advisory committee, focus groups, interviews, surveys, polling, and pop-ups. Input will help guide Logan Simpson’s development of the new code text alongside County staff, elected officials, board groups, and municipal partners.

The State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) provided grant support to help fund the project.