Golden Horizons: The Community's Vision For the Future

What is a "Comprehensive Plan"?

A Comprehensive Plan is a policy document adopted by City Council, with input from the community, to guide long-term decisions for the City. The plan is implemented through land-use decisions like rezonings, infrastructure investments, and programming choices. It serves as both the process and the documentation for creating a long-term vision for future land uses and the built environment. It lays the foundation for zoning codes, which are the legal means for implementing the vision of the future contained in the Plan.

Why is the Comprehensive Plan Update Important?

• Future Development: Comprehensive Plans guides growth, development and redevelopment decisions by directing public and private investments which are evaluated against the plan.
• Housing Policies: They create housing policies, which includes affordable housing policies that focus on keeping people in their existing homes as well as provide support for external partners looking to develop affordable housing.
• Capital Improvement Prioritization: Comprehensive Plans coordinate and prioritize city capital improvement projects among various departments.
• New Opportunities & Programs: They provide an opportunity to create new funding opportunities or programmatic efforts and apply for grants.

Community Engagement & Feedback Opportunities

What is the difference between a listening session and a pop-up event?

The City will host two styles of outreach events for the Comprehensive Plan Update.

• Listening sessions will begin with a short presentation from city staff and will be followed by a series of breakout sessions to capture participant feedback.
• Pop-up meetings will be more informal engagements where participants can stop by and talk to staff and indicate their preference on policy priorities.

Project Timeline:

• Community Outreach: October 2024 - February 2025
• Draft Comprehensive Plan Released: May 2025
• Public Feedback on Draft Plan: May-July 2025
• Public Hearing Process
  1. Planning Commission: February 2025
  2. Planning Commission: May 2025
  3. Planning Commission: June 2025
  4. City Council Adoption: July 2025

Project Background

The City of Golden’s Comprehensive Plan (the Plan) helps set the values and vision for guiding land-use decisions and policy. The Plan was adopted in 2017 and it is time for an update! The values in the Golden Vision 2030 Plan (adopted in 2010) are the foundation for the Comprehensive Plan and set the community goals outlined in the Plan.

Since the Plan’s adoption in 2017, Golden has developed new city-wide plans including the Transportation Master Plan, Open Space and Recreation Plan, and the Heart of Golden. A part of this Comprehensive Plan Update will be to better integrate the City’s existing plans into one overarching document. Golden Vision 2030 will continue to be the basis for the Comprehensive Plan.

Additionally, this Comprehensive Plan Update is not an update to the zoning code. Learn more about the zoning code rewrite with the Phase 3 of the Zoning Code Rewrite.