Residents of Flagstaff and Coconino County now have the opportunity to shape their region’s future, as the window for public feedback on the new regional plan opens. This document, which has been under development for the past three years, aims to guide future growth and development across the area.
The regional plan covers various aspects of the community, from land use and housing to water management and transportation strategies.
According to Sara Dechter, Flagstaff’s comprehensive planning manager, the plan’s policies are designed to meet multiple objectives simultaneously, such as improving housing affordability, enhancing climate resilience, and promoting walkability. “We cannot have lower vehicle miles traveled, which is a key carbon neutrality indicator, if our housing supply becomes so unattainable that people are commuting in from longer and longer distances over time,” Dechter explains.
To tackle housing affordability, the draft plan proposes increasing housing supply and density. It also emphasizes the importance of walkable communities, public transit, open space conservation, and preparing for climate change impacts like erratic weather, flooding, and wildfires.
Despite these measures, some local climate advocates express concern that the plan does not sufficiently prioritize the city’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. While the draft mentions the 2030 target, it articulates the goal as “achieve and maintain carbon neutrality” without specifying a deadline.
Dechter clarifies that the omission of a specific date is intentional, given that the document will be in use through 2045. “We don’t have to call out 2030 because during the life of this plan we would achieve carbon neutrality and then the goal would be to maintain it over time,” she says.
The public comment period remains open until Wednesday, allowing community members to voice their opinions. Once finalized, the plan will be subject to voter approval in the 2025 election and could be implemented soon thereafter.
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