Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Lafayette Public Information Officer Debbie Wilmot’s name and to specify that RCC Associates is located in Boulder.
Lafayette City Council is taking strides toward a new comprehensive plan after listening to some recent survey results during its Tuesday night meeting.
The plan, dubbed Legacy Lafayette, will include future land use and potential redevelopment, economic development strategies, housing plans, sustainability strategies, and implementation.
In June, the city hosted its first open house for Legacy Lafayette where more than 250 people were in attendance, officials said.
On Tuesday, consultants from Rick Engineering Company (RICK) with offices in Centennial, and RRC Associates of Boulder, told council they received more than 800 surveys of 4,500 that were mailed out to a randomly-selected group of residents.
“We find that really good,” said Chris Cares, managing director of RRC Associates.
Lafayette’s Public Information Officer Debbie Wilmot said residents of the city are passionate.
“People in Lafayette took advantage of filling out the open-ended questions,” Wilmot said. “I think people love their city and they have strong opinions, which is good. This is the residents’ vision.”
Questions varied from demographic information to how long residents have lived in the city, what residents like and don’t like about the city, what community priorities are, types of sustainability programs the city should look at, transportation enhancements and housing options.
The presentation showed 62% of those surveyed say they believe the city is going in the right direction while 23% say the opposite.
Cares said some top things that residents really enjoy about the city include open spaces and public lands, small town feel and overall level of public safety. He also said what residents found to be of interest for the city to improve included ease of walking and biking around the area, level of traffic congestion compared to other places, and housing affordability.
Councilwoman Carolyn Cutler said she was intrigued by the data that talks about people who have lived in the city a shorter amount of time.
“People who have been here less time are more content with the direction we’re going in to some degree than the people who have been here longer,” Cutler said. “I’m wondering if we’re going to see more of the data broken down in the same way.”
Cares said the consultants will address that.
“In terms of some of the summaries, I think what we anticipated doing is breaking it down by how long have you lived in town, and then sort the comments that way,” Cares said. “And then possibly by if you think we’re on the wrong track or the right track.”
Councilwoman Stephanie Walton said another way to break up the results could be to look at them by the six geographical regions of the city.
Cares said they have begun to summarize some of the comments and a popular word that occurred is traffic.
“It’s by far the dominant word,” Cares said. “As you look at the more positive people it’s community, open space, it’s a bunch of really rich positives.”
Walton said she was curious how traffic and another popular topic of housing would be included in other public meetings regarding the comprehensive plan.
“The housing topic will be covered in the strong economy discussion,” said Britt Palmberg, principal community planner/project manager for RICK. “I suspect all these topics will [flow] outside their topic area.”
The next stakeholder meeting will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lafayette Senior Center.
Future topics include environmental stewardship (July 25), community character (Aug. 8) and connected community (Aug. 15). During these meetings, attendees will give input on key issues the city is facing, or is likely to face, in the coming years.
For a list of questions that will be discussed, or to take the survey, visit the project’s website at www.legacylafayette.org.
The survey will be available online through Sept. 2. The revision of the comp plan is expected to go through mid-2020.