The Wheat Ridge Planning Commission officially gave the seal of recommendation for the city’s new comprehensive development plan, pushing the proposal into the laps of City Council members.

The commission unanimously agreed to recommend the adoption of the more-than 160-page, 15-year plan on Aug. 21, complimenting the plan’s look to the future and the effort the city put into to sourcing opinions and ideas from residents.

The plan contains three main parts: an overview of the city’s current state, a vision for character and development and strategies for future growth.

In regards to the current state, the plan notes that of the more than 32,000 residents in Wheat Ridge, a significant portion is now younger families moving into the city — directly increasing the median household income. 

Historic affordability has “eroded” due to rising rent prices not matching higher incomes, according to the plan.

In an effort to combat this, the city would prioritize modern housing development, but do so in a way that maintains the city’s character. 

“While the community expressed ways in which they want the city to grow and evolve, there is not a strong desire for dramatic physical change to transform the city. At the same time, growth and development are both inevitable and necessary,” the plan said.

This would include creating developments that blend naturally with existing neighborhoods, improving infrastructure like bike paths and sidewalks and “incremental change that is carefully curated so we can evolve while maintaining our character of distinct areas with their own look and feel,” according to the plan.

Senior Planner Ella Stueve said the plan allows the city to evolve while “still feeling like Wheat Ridge.”

Furthermore, the plan includes continuing work on Wheat Ridge’s Main Street corridor — an ongoing plan to create mixed-use development and streetscape improvements on 38th Avenue.

A new public park has already been in development on the newly designated main street and is set to open later this year.

The city has been working on the plan since early 2024, according to Stueve. There have been four phases of community engagement, including online surveys and open house discussions.

“I really look forward to implementation and seeing how it’s going to be activated because there are a lot of ideas, and I think there’s a lot of passion and staff to carry that forward,” Commissioner Daniel Graeve said.

“We went above and beyond in this process to make sure that everybody had their voices heard,” Commissioner Kristine Disney said, adding that now the interest has moved to how the city will raise the funds necessary to enact the plan.

The plan is set to be voted on by the City Council early next month.