Cate Stanek, City of Boulder Media Relations, 303-775-0984
Richard Hackett, Boulder County Media Relations, 720-564-2605
The City of Boulder and Boulder County will release the draft Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan on Tuesday March 3, 2026, after nearly a year and a half of community engagement, partnerships and coordination.
Community members are invited to join the city and county at an open house on March 10 to mark this milestone and learn about how community input shaped the updated policies and Future Land Use Map. The draft plan will be available online for review and feedback from March 3 through April 6. Feedback received will inform the final recommended plan, which is scheduled to be adopted later this year.
The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan guides long-term decisions about growth, sustainability and services in Boulder and the surrounding area. First adopted in 1977, the plan is updated every 10 years to reflect evolving community values, priorities and challenges. Since the start of this major update in October 2024, the city and county offered over 65 community engagement opportunities, including open houses, online questionnaires, office hours, workshops, interactive playback theater performances and the city’s first-ever Community Assembly.
The update process was designed to bring in voices that have not historically participated in shaping the plan, alongside community members who have been involved in the past.
“We want to thank everyone in the community – community members, partners, Community Assembly members, city and county staff and so many more – who took the time to participate in this update, whether it was to share your input online, or work together for months as we brought in innovative ways to engage,” said Boulder City Manager, Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. “This reimagined plan is shaped through collaboration by a diverse range of voices and reflects the values that the Boulder Valley was built on, while responding to where we are now and looking toward the future."
“The ten-year update to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, coming on the 50th anniversary of the plan, is an opportunity to take stock of where we are as a community and how we want our community to evolve,” said Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy. “ Many, many people took advantage of the diverse opportunities to share their thoughts whether through MOTUS theater, the Community Assembly, workshops or on-line comments. Together, we are shaping an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future for the Boulder Valley.”
The draft plan honors the current plan’s core values while weaving in community input to reflect where we are today and where we want to go. The update is community driven and has been reimagined to be more understandable, remove redundant or outdated policies and provide clear direction.
It provides a policy and land use framework for how the city grows, a core value to continue preserving open space in and around Boulder, and a commitment to a safe multi-modal environment with a variety of options for moving around town safely. New policies focus on the main themes heard throughout the engagement process, including safety, housing choice and availability, an inclusive economy, climate action and resilience, a stronger food system and creating a more multicultural multigenerational community.
The draft plan also updates the Future Land Use Map based on community input to promote mixed-used, transit-supported areas, balance growth with environmental protection and expand housing options while ensuring flexibility and adaptability. Community members shared a strong desire to increase our connection to each other, and create community spaces that offer multiple services, shops and housing types that can be accessed without a car.
The Community Open House will feature an exhibition of Experiments in Public Art, created in collaboration with local artists and community members as they participated and engaged in the plan update. Come view, listen to and interact with art in many forms that use creative expression to simplify complex planning topics, elevate diverse community voices and engage historically excluded groups in shaping Boulder’s future. The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan art series includes Voicing Boulder, Personal Geographies, Motus Playback Theater, Boulder’s Big Adventure and an upcoming Community Mural.
The city and county will accept community feedback on the draft through April 6. Office hours will also be offered in March to meet with staff, ask questions and discuss the draft plan. The draft will then be revised based on community feedback gathered during this review period. A recommended plan and summary of community comments will be provided to the Boulder City Council, Boulder Planning Board, Boulder County Board of Commissioners and Boulder County Planning Commission as part of the adoption process starting in June.
More information is available at ABoulderFuture.org.
