The El Paso County Planning and Community Development Department, along with Master Plan Consultant Houseal-Lavigne Associates, presented the County’s “Existing Conditions Report” to the Board of County Commissioners at their meeting on Thursday, December 12.
The Existing Conditions Report is a 70-page document comprised of public input and statistical analysis regarding the current state of El Paso County. The report is both a summary of current conditions in the county as well as a snapshot of county life as it stands today. The report covers a multitude of topics from zoning, development, transportation, and water, to military bases, recreation and tourism, community health and sustainability.
The Existing Conditions Report will be instrumental as the county continues to develop the County Master Plan. The Master Plan development process began early 2019 and will take about two years to complete. The Planning Department expects to begin implementation of the Master Plan at the end of 2020.
“Finalizing the Existing Conditions Report is the first step toward understanding where the county is today, and it will serve as a bridge to the future,” said Planning and Community Development Executive Director, Craig Dossey. “The report gives us a strong foundation of understanding pertaining to the good, the bad and the ugly in the county, and provides a solid starting point as we move forward.”
The Planning Department is excited not just for County Commissioners to read the Existing Conditions Report, but for the public to review the report as well. The full Existing Conditions Report can be viewed here: https://elpaso.hlplanning.com/pages/documents
“At the very least, the report gives residents a good idea of all the moving parts that are going into the Master Plan process,” said John Houseal of Houseal-Lavigne. “You won’t find another document with such extensive content relating to the current state of El Paso County.”
In addition to presenting the Existing Conditions Report to Commissioners, the Planning Department also participated in a second round of public engagement for the Master Plan, in the form of a Visioning Workshop on Wednesday, December 11. The Visioning Workshop consisted of a brief presentation, followed by live polling of citizens, both in-person and online via Facebook Live. Close to 100 residents participated and gave feedback on a number of Master Plan topics and ideas, and their input will be incorporated as the Planning Department finishes up the Master Plan development process.
For those who couldn’t participate in the Visioning Workshop on December 11, a survey covering similar topics is available to the public on the project website: https://elpaso-hlplanning.hub.arcgis.com/pages/questionnaires . The survey will be available to take through January. Residents are encouraged to take the survey and provide their feedback to be considered for the Master Plan.