MCKINLEY COUNTY, NEW MEXICO Comprehensive Plan Update McKinley County, New Mexico Comprehensive Plan THE '360/365' PLAN is taking a "360 Degrees/365 Days" approach to catalyzing prosperity for families and communities in McKinley County. Plan: Asset-based approach to creating livable communities Collaborate: Bringing people & ideas together in a creative partnership and working networks. Catalyze: Working hard and being accountable for prosperity. Final Plan – September 2012 Produced by the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments Funded by HUD Community Development Block Grant P R E F A C E This document presents an update of the McKinley County Comprehensive Plan, previously updated in 2003 (Phase I) and 2005 (Phase II). The objective is a Plan that is easy to understand and use, as well as up-to-date relative to past Comprehensive Plans, Census 2010 statistics, neighboring tribal and other sub-regional plans, and land-use-related regulations. The State of New Mexico requires local governments to update their Comprehensive Plans every five years, which among other things serves as a prerequisite for eligibility to receive future Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. This Comprehensive Plan update includes an integration of local and regional plans, updated socioeconomic and demographic data, updated content, inter-jurisdictional coordination, and research on zoning and development standards. It will be essential, going forward, to further engage County stakeholders in an updated Implementation Plan, as well as a Strategic Investment Plan targeted to selected County hub zones. The Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments provided both a technical and an administrative role in producing this update, as reflected in the following scope of work: FUNCTIONS & TASKS DETAILS FUNCTION 1 INTEGRATION PIECE Task 1.1 Background Materials Collection. BACKGROUND Task 1.2 Review of Current Comprehensive Plan & Other Plans. LITERATURE REVIEW Task 1.3 Integration strategy. INTEGRATION Task 1.4 Review Process & Oversight PLAN REVIEW FUNCTION 2 DEMOGRAPHIC UPDATE Task 2.1 Update socioeconomic & demographic data. DEMOGRAPHICS FUNCTION 3 ELEMENTS UPDATE Task 3.1 Update strategic information on each Element in the Plan. ELEMENTS FUNCTION 4 LAND USE UPDATE Task 4.1 Update Land Use Issues and Recommendations. LAND USE Function 5 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Task 5.1 Implementation Strategy. IMPLEMENTATION Function 6 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PLAN Task 6.1 Public Participation Plan. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT i O V E R V I E W Background. Soon after the onset of the recent national/global recession, citizens and leaders in the Four Corners region of northwestern New Mexico identified “greater inter-governmental relations and coordination” on issues of prosperity and livable communities as the most important focus. Working together across jurisdictions for the common good is an important first step in advancing communities, families, and individuals. A new paradigm of cooperation must be grounded in respect and forged to combat multi-generational poverty and foster prosperity in a global economy. This cooperation must be developed at the community level and supported by local governments. McKinley County has tremendous need for basic infrastructure, which will take a high level of inter-governmental partnership and coordination. The County government itself can play an important role as a natural convener – linking communities together with a roundtable of governmental entities and nonprofit organizations to advance prioritized projects, all aimed at advancing prosperity and building livable communities. The purpose of this Plan is to oversee and create a common platform for stakeholders and communities, as well as units of governments, including McKinley County. Development of the Plan is aimed to comprehensively integrate and weave together the region’s many existing planning documents in a comprehensive and holistic guide for regional sustainable development. THE '360/365' PLAN. This Plan is meant to help provide guiding principles and actions that will guide a long- term planning horizon but take a "360 Degrees/365 Days" approach to catalyzing prosperity for families and communities in McKinley County. The focus of this Plan is three-fold in terms of implementation: Plan: Taking an asset-based approach to creating livable communities; Collaborate: Bringing people & ideas together in a creative partnership and working networks; and Catalyze: Working hard, moving projects and being accountable for prosperity. Other key principles include: Creating a “Living” Document. The Plan and the strategies and projects included within it will be a “living” document, and not “another plan that sits on the shelf,” outdated after just a few years. It will serve as a focal point or blueprint for the region’s public and private citizens, communities, organizations, and stakeholders as the County changes and grows together. The Plan will be a flexible tool designed to be modified, changing with the opportunities, needs and progress of the region over time. It will regularly and perpetually integrate the local preferences and priorities and reflect Livability Principles with housing, transportation and other infrastructure needs while helping to maximize balanced land use for the land that preserves our people. Public Input. The Plan is based on numerous, strong, and current plans and strategies (both regionally and/or locally) in the areas of transportation, housing, land use, economic development, conservation and more. The integration of these plans assumes the notion that they were created with public input and community involvement. Also, with the update of this Plan, it highly recommended that it is taken through unprecedented community input throughout the County. It should include previously unparalleled transparency through the use of a multi-faceted public involvement plan blending both traditional outreach (such as charrettes and community forums) and modern outreach (such as graphic facilitation, social networking and other media outlets). This integrated outreach approach is needed in order to serve the County’s diverse but interrelated rural and urban high desert communities. ii Guidance, Not Regulation. The Plan provides guidance for natural resources preservation, construction quality, positive community appearance, economic development, job creation and much more. County needs are addressed in recommendations and suggested action steps. Planning directions are intended as guidelines, not as enforceable rules. Whereas the City of Gallup enforces zoning laws suitable for that municipality's more urbanized character, the vast lands in the remainder of the County do not require detailed land use regulations. McKinley County does apply sound and common sense principles of land management through its subdivision regulations. The McKinley County Smart Growth Commission was established in the Comprehensive Plan (2005 update) to act as an advisory body to work with and oversee application of the Comprehensive Plan, providing a mechanism for supporting planning goals and objectives without imposing additional legal requirements. County Staff Involvement and Goal Integration. The Plan must be tied to day-to-day activities of County staff and have their buy-in. Without this, the Plan is doomed to fail. From its title, the 360/365 PLAN needs daily focus, attention, and action. The Plan provides overall guidance, policy, and strategies, but it only gets implemented “in the trenches.” County staff must self-identify as coordinators for projects, programs, and activities that uplift the County and bring parties for together. The Plan must be robustly tied to 5-year Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plans (ICIP) and annual Department goals, work programs, budgets, and performance metrics. The County Manager will need to educate and empower staff to help communicate and connect to the 360-degree vision and 365-day work program. The Implementation Plan is the responsibility of all County staff and stakeholders. With assistance by the Council of Governments, County staff will serve as a clearinghouse for evaluating accomplishments, shortfalls or changes of direction in the implementation process. Local and tribal governments, civic organizations and interested citizens are encouraged to provide input regarding the document's effectiveness in addressing problems and exploring opportunities. Planning Assumptions. Drawing on assistance from consultants, the Council of Governments and others, McKinley County has conducted numerous planning exercises over the years. In general, these plans addressed a specific function, such as water resources or economic development. The City of Gallup and Navajo Chapters, as well as other County communities, have created their own approaches for land use, transportation, infrastructure and many of the other subject areas covered in this Comprehensive Plan. The County-wide planning process creates an opportunity to recognize existing information or programs, and related interests (infrastructure, water resources, fiscal planning) can be tied together through cross-referencing and integration within the multi-faceted Comprehensive Plan. The basic principle of cooperation helps to define relationships – jurisdictional, public/private and others. The Comprehensive Plan provides a broad overview 'umbrella' for considering citizens’ visions and needs, as well as subjects of interest to all County residents. The Plan seeks to organize background