Resource Planning for Parks & Open Space
Boulder County Parks and Open Space manages over 55,000 acres of
forests, grasslands, ponds and wetlands, stream corridors, irrigation
ditches, historic sites, and agricultural areas.
Thoughtful planning is required to ensure protection of natural and cultural resources and community
values on these diverse properties, to provide for long-term sustainable use and to balance the needs and interests of the public
and other stakeholders.
The Boulder County Parks and Open Space Resource Planning division is
responsible for developing management strategies for the appropriate use
of Open Space resources and properties. The Resource Planning division
includes staff with expertise in
historic preservation,
GIS
and mapping, water resources, environmental and urban planning, land
use codes, ecology, and recreation and public use. This range of
specialties allows the division to promote resource planning that
reflects the comprehensive values of County open space preservation.
Planning for Parks and Open Space properties involves several
components:
Public involvement: This critical element of resource planning
includes communication of Parks and Open Space intentions to the public,
and review and incorporation of public feedback into management plans.
This is accomplished
through a variety of mechanisms including mailings, public
meetings, direct contact with individual stakeholders, and
issue-specific advisory groups.
Additionally, the
Parks and Open Space
Advisory Committee (POSAC), appointed by the Board of County
Commissioners, convenes monthly in a public forum to review and provide
advice on Parks and Open Space issues.
Regulatory compliance: Management plans and activities must comply
with and support the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan. In addition,
they must adhere to County land use regulations, as well as other
Federal, state, and municipal codes and planning documents. In addition
to incorporating these directives into management plans and activities,
Resource Planning staff works with the public and other stakeholders to
promote understanding of and compliance with these complex statutes.
Ongoing engagement in these issues allows staff to mitigate potential
conflicts in areas such as water rights, land use code violations, and
cultural resource preservation.
Interdepartmental collaboration: The Resource Planning division
incorporates recommendations from a wide variety of disciplines into
planning efforts, whether they be development of a management plan for a
new property, or involvement of stakeholders to resolve an ongoing
issue.
Expertise from other staff including landscape architects, plant
and wildlife biologists, education and outreach specialists and
facility managers is key to successful planning efforts.
This
interdisciplinary collaboration ensures development of
management strategies that address property-specific objectives
while meeting overall goals for Parks and Open Space
preservation.
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