{"id":13904,"date":"2026-01-19T16:46:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T23:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-begins-process-to-write-comprehensive-plan\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:06","slug":"dolores-begins-process-to-write-comprehensive-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-begins-process-to-write-comprehensive-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores begins process to write comprehensive plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores
Dolores Community Playground, built in 2020 in Joe Rowell Park along the river trail, is one of the town\u2019s strongest assets, Town Manager Leigh Reeves said as Dolores begins updating its comprehensive plan. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The town of Dolores is launching a new comprehensive plan, which hasn\u2019t been updated since 1997, Town Manager Leigh Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Putting the plan together could take about a year, Reeves said, and the primary goal is to gather as much public input as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly the most important part, because you want it to reflect what\u2019s important to town members,\u201d Reeves said.<\/p>\n

A comprehensive plan is required to pursue many state grants, including those through the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The long-term guide, typically 20 to 400 pages, outlines community priorities, future projects and investments, and allows town officials to plan for change and allocate resources.<\/p>\n

During the town manager\u2019s update to board leaders Jan. 12, Reeves said the Planning and Zoning Commission is preparing to create a clearer timeline for community engagement.<\/p>\n

Priorities may have changed since the 1990s, Reeves said. Housing, for example, is expected to be a major focus, as required by state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike in 1997, if you go look at that one, it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going to double in size,\u2019\u201d Reeves said. \u201cWell, we actually didn\u2019t double in size. It said we should annex the eastern part \u2013 past where our town limits are \u2013 but we can\u2019t do that because of infrastructure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure limitations will be another key factor in planning. While earlier plans envisioned expansion, Dolores is largely constrained by water and sewer capacity.<\/p>\n

The town\u2019s population in 1997 was about 860 people in around 417 households, roughly 100 fewer than officials estimate today.<\/p>\n

Reeves emphasized the comprehensive plan is a \u201cvision\u201d document, not a regulatory one. It guides decisions about land use, housing, parks and economic development, but it doesn\u2019t establish enforceable rules. Regulatory details remain in the town\u2019s land-use code, which was last updated in 2022.<\/p>\n

Public outreach is expected to last until fall. Plans so far involve the following, though no official dates have been announced:<\/p>\n

A dedicated project website, expected to launch soon, with an interactive GIS-based map system where residents can drop suggestions about places they value or improvements they\u2019d like to see.Surveys available both online and on paper.In-person engagement with community events, including at the farmers market, community center, and other local gathering spots, with food to encourage participation.Listening sessions hosted in multiple locations.<\/div>\n

\u201cWe will probably do an event at Dolores River Brewery to get not just Dolores people but lots of people who use our town,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have some of the best parks in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town secured a $50,000 matching grant to support the process, with $25,000 from DOLA and $25,000 from the town\u2019s budget. The grant covers only the public outreach and community engagement portion of the project.<\/p>\n

Once drafted, the comprehensive plan will be brought forward for public hearings before adoption by the town board. The final product will likely be a searchable PDF posted to the town\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

provides a long-term vision for the town\u2019s future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13904"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19222,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13904\/revisions\/19222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13904"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}