Logan Simpson worked with the Town of Jackson and Teton County on the Growth Management Program (GMP) Review and an update to the forward-thinking 2012 Comprehensive Plan, previously completed by Logan Simpson staff Bruce Meighen and Megan Moore. The area is located on the edge of Yellowstone and includes the Town of Jackson and many smaller communities. The GMP Review was an in-depth statistical and community-based check-in on how the plan has been functioning over the last seven years and allows the team to systematically revise the plan through the identification of corrective actions necessary to better implement its vision. For this update, tasks have included an overall audit of the plan, using a three-tiered priority rating system based on seven years of indicator data, trend analysis, and an outreach campaign to understand the community’s perception. Looking back, the Plan shifted growth from rural areas into complete neighborhoods (over 60% into complete neighborhoods) and resulted in thousands of units of new workforce housing (over 65% of people who work in Jackson/Teton live there). Our work developing the Character Districts, Code, and Housing Action Plan has ensured growth is directed to the correct places. Fundamental changes to the Plan will be a limit on greenhouse gases, no new single-occupancy lane miles constructed, and an environmental keystone indicator. The Plan update process can be found at http://www.jacksontetonplan.com/315/Growth-Management-Program-GMP-Review-Upd, and the overall plan is located at http://www.jacksontetonplan.com/270/Comprehensive-Plan.

Residents in the rural, diverse landscape of Teton region rely on regional resources for employment, recreation, and housing—making a regional plan for sustainability and resiliency a necessity. Working together, four counties in Wyoming and Idaho created the Teton View Regional Plan for Sustainable Development. The plan highlights what the region shares in common while respecting the varied economic, political, and cultural views of each community. It presents a voluntary “livability roadmap” to guide each jurisdiction in its future development. The plan outlines parallel paths that each locality may travel independently or through coordinated, region-wide implementation. It outlines high-priority community-scale projects and multi-sector initiatives to be led voluntarily by local cities, counties, and organizations. Additional projects are summarized that may be implemented by localities over the long term. The plan’s regional approach is designed to help city and county officials, and public land managers better coordinate land-use planning, resource management, and community development efforts for the region’s long-term benefit.

The Teton View Regional Plan for Sustainable Development earned Idaho Smart Growth’s 2016 Planning & Policy Award and the 2015 Gem Award from the Idaho Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Logan Simpson’s community planning team helped communities throughout Idaho’s West Central Mountains Region build the West Central Mountains Economic Development Strategy (WCMEDS), a plan for economic resilience. Just 10,800 residents live in the 3 million-acre region. Over the past 40 years, the area’s economy has changed dramatically. WCMEDS contains short- and long-term goals that address six elements affecting the region’s quality of life and economic future. The strategy identified five key industries for which the region is well-positioned. An adaptive management program with associated metrics allows the region’s communities to  check progress against goals.

There has been consistent progress against the plan since its adoption, demonstrating the strong spirit of collaboration between the region’s communities. A regional economic summit has taken place; a housing trust has been established; development of a parks and recreation district is underway; and an area sector analysis project are reaching the point of completion. The group has effectively enhanced youth activities and formed partnerships to address veterans’ needs. Progress is also being made in other areas, such as workforce development, construction of bus kiosks, update of the Valley County Pathways Master Concept Plan, establishing business incubators, construction of community gardens, and forest preservation. Implementation of the plan was partially funded by two grants awarded through the America’s Best Communities (ABC) competition. The plan won the 2016 American Planning Association Vernon Deines Merit Award for an Outstanding Small Town Special Project Plan and the 2016 American Planning Association Idaho Chapter Outstanding Plan Award. Read the plan here or watch a video here.

No community is immune from the impacts of significant disruptions, and it is impossible to anticipate and prepare for all possible natural or economic hazard events. Larimer County’s new Comprehensive Plan helps build individual and community self-sufficiency in the event of a disaster, as well as strengthening the capacity of the county to continue supplying critical goods and services during emergency situations and throughout recovery.

Larimer County is diverse—demographically, economically and geographically. More than half of the County’s 2,634 square miles is sparsely populated mountainous terrain, while the Front Range area encompasses one of the fastest growing urban areas in Colorado. Larimer County recognized the areas’ different challenges, and elected to develop the new comprehensive plan into two phases, each of which address the needs of the mountain and Front Range communities separately.

The Comprehensive Plan holistically structured the format, process, and content around six resiliency frameworks: community, economy, health & social, housing, infrastructure, and watersheds & natural resources. Public involvement was key to the Plan’s success, and the plan was refined through in-person conversations at 13 community events, 830 online survey responses, 46 one-on-one interviews, and over 25 regular workshops with the three project committees and county leaders.

The Plan in Action

An unexpected and favorable result of the two-phase approach was early implementation and actions even ahead of adoption of the full Comprehensive Plan. The Framework Map geographically illustrates the policies reflected in the plan, including subarea planning and targeted rural development. Other notable achievements since plan adoption include the current update of the County Land Use Code to reflect the community’s vision and moving forward on establishing a process and prioritization criteria for subarea planning for unincorporated communities.

The Comprehensive Plan called for expansion of broadband service into digitally isolated rural areas, as well as the expansion of the Larimer Connects program—a county program created with the understanding that communities that do not have good social connectivity and access to resources are not able to fulfill their potential in becoming resilient. These programs are already proving to be essential to managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural residents.

The Larimer County Comprehensive Plan and Mountain Resilience Plan won the 2020 Community Resiliency Honor Award from the Colorado Chapter of the American Planning Association. Read the plan here. 

Logan Simpson worked with the Town of Green Mountain Falls to update their Comprehensive Plan. GMF is a small mountainous community challenged by the recession, wildfires, small landslides, and flooding. Still the community maintains successful businesses and public amenities, due in large part to a supportive community of committed residents and volunteers and a unique town character and extensive trails system that draws visitors from near and far. This plan recommended tailored and actionable direction based on key issues and opportunities. It established a basis for future Town policies and priorities for development and will provide a balanced, predictable, and flexible land use plan and implementable strategies for housing affordability, hazard mitigation and resilience, infrastructure upgrades, and general improvements for community services and character. In regards to resiliency, the plan analyzed wildfire and its effect on this wildland-urban interface community. Land use policies to protect critical human infrastructure, municipal water and power supplies, evacuation routes, and major recreation areas and transportation corridors were then developed. The plan was unanimously adopted in July 2019. Read it here.