An update to the Joint Upper Blue Master Plan, a intergovernmental agreement guiding all planning matters in the Upper Blue Basin, was approved Thursday after months of negotiation among local governments and planners.
The master plan, first adopted in 1997, provides broad guidance for planners from the county and towns of Breckenridge and Blue River as well as the Upper Blue Planning Commission on development issues with the goal of preserving the basin's natural resources and community character.
“This plan is proof that jurisdictions can work together toward a common goal in the best interest of all three communities,” Breckenridge Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron stated in a town release. “It will protect the interests of the citizens in the Upper Blue Basin for years to come, helping to guide the amount and type of development we will see in the basin in the future, as well as goals toward transportation and transit, open space and trails, water protection, affordable workforce housing and so on.”
The sweeping intergovernmental agreement was due for a revision, officials said, that would bring it up to date with current conditions, concerns and build-out estimates in the valley.
Like the original document, which froze the basin's development potential — measured in density units — the updated draft seeks ways to reduce the current potential build out of the basin in an effort to preserve community character and quality of life.
Final approval of the updated master plan was not easily won, as the parties involved struggled with how to resolve some issues, including ways of mitigating the impacts of affordable housing, one of the few exceptions to the document's freeze on the creation of new development space.
“It is an important plan for the area as it identifies what the community will look like in 10 or 20 years,” Joint Upper Blue update committee and former Upper Blue planning commissioner Robin Theobald stated in the release.
The Upper Blue Basin includes unincorporated Summit County from Farmer's Korner to the Hoosier Pass summit as well as parts of the towns of Breckenridge and Blue River. The master plan serves as a guiding document for planning and development in the basin, used by the Upper Blue Planning Commission, the Summit Board of County Commissioners and the planning commissions and governments of Blue River and Breckenridge as a reference for planning decisions.
