Session V - Planning in the City of COS
We heard from both the City of Colorado Springs Utilities as well as the City of Colorado Springs Planning Department last week about their approach to planning in our city. What did you learn from these presentations that might help you in your neighborhood work?
I learned about zoning categories and a little history and thinking behind urban planning. It's a very fascinating subject and City staff is very engaged and seem to have the necessary education and skills to be thoughtful in the planning process. They are transparent and helpful.
ReplyDeleteLong-term planning is counter intuitive. Humans tend to live by instant gratification. Even the term long-term is relative. The time frames that city planers need to consider are multi- generational.
ReplyDeleteThe presentations by the city planning department and COS Utilities showed a realization of the need to consider future growth and the impact of our decisions today. Yet, I still doubt that we are zooming out far enough for issues like transportation, water, and energy.
Andrew Hoskins
Mesa Springs
The presentation on zoning was very interesting, as was the utilities presentation. Both were new topics to me so I appreciated them very much. I agree with the comments about needing to get a broader view, not just near term. Managing growth will be COS's (and CO's) biggest challenge over the next 50 years, and we need to plan for several scenarios (likely growth rate, low growth rate, and high growth rate) and do rolling reassessments every few years.
ReplyDeleteI loved the gray water discussion but also wish we could have spoken about water conservation. I live down the hill from a 300-ish unit apartment complex where the plan to keep the pipes from freezing (October through May) is to "drip the pipes." I cringe every time I drive by and see those signs posted. In my opinion, COS needs to pull up it's big girl panties and tell the complex owner he will be ticketed if he doesn't solve the problem in a different way! But the City always seems to defer to business interests over the interests of the population as a whole. We don't have the luxury to do that with water...
I was impressed by their deliberate and persistent "whole city" perspective with respect to current and future development. I appreciated the conscientious efforts to localize commercial development in proximity to neighborhoods with mixed housing types. I wish that I had heard more discussion of restricting water use for landscaping purposes.
ReplyDeleteDianne Bridges
ReplyDeleteKey points:
• Appreciate how both City Planning and Utilities want to share info so public can get involved.
• Interesting to note that the origins of Planning were with the safety and welfare of society
• Like the concept of “City Beautiful” (development patterns around parks, trails, trees/green space)
• Good to see the focus on Neighborhood Comprehensive Planning based on Community Goals/Vision…where things are now and where they want to go
• Good to hear about the Integrated Water Plan and Energy Plan, in particular being a combination of both Engineering and Public Opinion
• Concerned about the water system, good to hear there is a focus on conservation programs. Hopefully emphasize this more.
I found this session to be very informative. The presenters are very knowledgeable about the subject matter. I was happy to hear them say that they are looking into bringing back the water delivery tours for organizations like the Neighborhood U.
ReplyDeleteI do want to mention that I was mistaken about who is responsible for managing the streetlight system. One of my colleagues of Neighborhood U, was correct when she stated that Colorado Springs Utilities is paid a little over $4M annually, to maintain the system.
I found the meeting to be informative and enlightening. I didn't realize the city was genuinely interested in the publics opinion, and desired community input for planning. I also was very impressed with the outreach to students in schools, because they are the future and they should feel impowered to have a voice at the table. I think it's excellent idea and planning for the future I am so excited to be playing a small role in helping to connect the citizens of Colorado Springs and unite them for a consensus of what is important them now and what will be important to them and their children in the future. It's important for the citizens to be heard and to have our opinions valued. The citizens should always have a choice, and should never settle for one persons vision for our City, because they do not have an engineering degree or they do not have a business. All citizens make up this community, blue collar, white collar or no collar.
ReplyDeleteThe history of Urban Planning was very interesting. Taking in account of the environment, housing,illnesses and sanitation is important for the health of a community. As stated it reserve citizen and increase lifespan. I enjoyed the knowledge on Planning Development and how it is color coded/concepts inclusive to the needs.
ReplyDeleteThe diferent forms of planning was eye opening to me and I learned much about what goes into planning to include public hearing, community input through surveys, how to get involved- applications, proposals, ask questions and receiving postcards to inform the citizens.
I did utilize the process of getting involved with a company trying to manufacture Hemp in my neighborhood. Once I got the postcard. I wrote a letter of concerns, and attended a public hearing. The company was not allowed to manufacture at that location but was able use the building as a distribution warehouse only.
Lelia
Am long a fan of Morgan's and her knowledge and enthusiasm for her profession. Would have liked to ask why outreach for RetoolCOS and ConnectCOS, etc. has been no where near as extensive as was the outreach for PlanCOS where meetings were held throughout the community. Also note that additional sections or chapters have been added: HistoricCOS and Sustainable COS. Also good to know that there is a single person in charge of coordinating information for Utilities especially as we are in the unique condition of having all four Utilities municipally owned. Am wondering if our extraordinary drought conditions will accelerate update to the water plan. Today, the Colorado River was declared America's most endangered river. Given that 70% of our water comes via transmountain diversion from the Colorado, this is indeed a serious issue. jrj
ReplyDeleteI look forward to working with the City and making COS a better place to live, work and play. I have been impressed with the level of cooperativeness that the planning department and the utilities board displayed with attempting to explain who they are and what they do.
ReplyDeleteI learned that every City employee who presents is incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their job, but that (sadly!) there is no City song. I also learned that CSU carefully weighs public/stakeholder comments. While the City planning process does encourage public input, if a development is for a permitted use and it "meets code requirements it cannot be denied". That does lend weight to the impression that the City can be overly developer-friendly.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I missed the live session. I had a conflict in my schedule. Watching the video was quite engaging. There was much I took away from this class.
ReplyDeleteWater is a huge issue in our state. I am disappointed in how little conservation and gray water use was discussed. It definitely seems like it would be a solution to a major problem. Personally, reusing much of the water in my household has benefited my garden.
Another point I took away was the 100 and 300 year evaluations. "The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future." If we truly care about the future, especially the children and our city, adopting a 300 year future outlook at how any developments impact the land and water should be standard.
The way water is managed is a huge problem in this country. It's a finite resource that isn't cared for in the ways it should be.
- Red L.
These were 2 very useful and informative presentations by knowledgeable and passionate folks. I need to go back and carefully review the slides to enhance my grasp of the overall concepts to better understand how I will use this new knowledge in my interactions with the city and my community moving forward. A couple of quick take aways: From Morgan regarding city planning, I learned that all emails are part of the public record. For me that indicates the importance of submitting succinct, well articulated and respectful questions, comments and observations. From Christian at CSU, I learned that planning typically takes about 10 years and the value of citizen input. For me this emphasizes that change does not come overnight and that we need to be forward thinking and involved in planning every step of the way, especially regarding environmental issues of our energy and water useage. The discussion regarding non-potable water was an excellent example of why we can’t just switch to another option at the flick of a switch.
ReplyDeleteCyndi Long
Middle Shooks Run
Failure to plan is planning to fail. For a long time in this city, we relied on developers to make the plans for us. I was once on a panel for a UCCS class with a gentleman who used to work for Norwood when he made the claim: In the late eighties, I successfully got 4 members appointed to the city council and they helped us (Norwood) change the regulations associated with developing land so we could build more houses and make more money. (not an exact quote because I was too flabbergasted at what I had just heard to actually be able to remember what he said) Shouldn't really surprise anyone though, it's exactly what was recently done for the Banning Lewis Ranch property just a few years ago...
ReplyDeletePlanning is a good thing but being flexible within that plan is a great thing. For plans made today for five years in the future are not going to accurately predict most of the realities of the future.
Morgan's information was clear and concise. I appreciated the content and her enthusiasm. It was a very good session.
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