Arapahoe County approves Strasburg 2050 growth plan

Arapahoe County commissioners unanimously approved the Strasburg 2050 Subarea Plan Tuesday, July 14, as an amendment to the county’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. The 20- to 25-year guide will shape development and infrastructure decisions around Strasburg. The board’s meeting record shows all commissioners voted yes; no public comments were received on the plan.

The plan replaces an area plan adopted in 2002 and provides more detailed land-use guidance for the unincorporated area. It covers housing, East Colfax Avenue design, transportation, economic development, community identity, parks and open space, and includes an implementation matrix.

Staff presented a 2050 population projection of roughly 6,870 to 7,700 for the Strasburg area in Arapahoe and Adams counties, below the 10,000 to 12,000 residents anticipated by the 2002 plan. The plan directs most residential and commercial growth into the planning area while preserving agricultural land outside it.

The plan changes much of downtown from commercial to mixed use, which staff said would provide more flexibility and better reflect existing land uses. It adds a recreation-commercial category for tourism and active recreation, expands mixed use along East Colfax Avenue and caps that area at 14 dwelling units per acre. One mixed-use area would require commercial buildings to face East Colfax.

It also calls for trail connections linking Bennett, Strasburg and Byers and coordination with the Colorado Department of Transportation on infrastructure improvements. Review issues included water and wastewater capacity, potential wildlife impacts from trails and CDOT approval of improvements along Colfax, a state-owned corridor. Arapahoe County Public Health and Colorado Parks and Wildlife raised the capacity and wildlife concerns, and staff said the plan was revised in response.

The plan sets a policy framework for future zoning, subdivision and infrastructure decisions; it does not approve a specific project.