Whitewater Community Plan

Clauson Rawley Associates was selected by Mesa County to create an updated community plan for Whitewater, Colorado, located eight miles south of Grand Junction. Whitewater was once an agricultural/ranching community; it is now experiencing significant growth pressures. Population trends in the region, combined with the amount of available land, suggest that the town's population may more than triple in the next ten years. The updated Plan was developed in the course of a thorough planning process and represents an extensive effort by both Whitewater residents and Mesa County. Adaptation of the medium-density, mixed-use plan was largely dependent on the formation of the Whitewater Public Improvement District that was approved by voters in the November 2006 election. This initiative was passed by an overwhelming majority and allows for the construction of a sanitary sewer district that will be operational by 2008. The Whitewater Community Plan is now complete and Mesa County is soon to begin work on Design Guidelines and Code Amendments necessary for implementation. The document now serves as a road map for future residential and commercial growth recommending appropriately scaled development; ensuring transportation and infrastructure needs can be safely and adequately met; open space and recreational areas can be preserved and expanded; and community services and facilities updated. The Whitewater Community Plan calls for a complete re-zoning of the area from rural and agricultural zoning (currently promoting sprawl-type development) to an updated plan including more appropriate residential and mixed-use zoning. The mix of land uses will allow neighborhood-oriented commercial development, and introduce the possibility of limited light industrial development -- all of which will generate local employment reducing the traffic and environmental impacts of the existing bedroom community.

Context

• Public Sector Planning