Longmont’s revised comprehensive plan (comp plan), Envision Longmont, will be considered for adoption by the City Council on June 28. LAR’s Government Affairs Committee spent hours reviewing the document.
A comp plan is generally a long-range planning document that defines where and how development will happen. It will affect every policy the City adopts, from transportation to water. Unfortunately, Envision Longmont is very broad and is more of a social statement than a comp plan. In comments provided to City Council and staff, LAR wrote, “The Longmont Association of REALTORS® understands Envision Longmont is an aspirational document. However, our general concern is that many of its goals are impossible to meet. The role of city government is not to house, feed and care for all its residents. Its primary purpose is to provide basic services. Goals such as educational opportunities for all and supporting access to affordable, healthy food are not the purview of municipal government.”
One goal, in particular, was cause for more specific comments. LAR’s letter said, “The goal of striving for “ten percent of homes built annually to be permanently affordable housing,” has implications for Longmont’s housing market (goal 3.1.B). Longmont will grow and new residents will need housing. There is currently a lack of inventory and new construction is not keeping up with demand. This will result in an expensive, high-end market unless policies are implemented to encourage more construction. We support the goal of encouraging multi-family housing as long as it focuses on incentives.”
IRES MLS: Come Home to Colorado 