Public Works Department
Environmental Services

Sustainable Broomfield Community Task Force

Project Description

Broomfield's 2005 Comprehensive Plan includes a vision statement for sustainability and environmental stewardship:

"Broomfield will be a leader in implementing environmental stewardship policies that help to create a desirable and sustainable community now and for future generations."

The City and County of Broomfield, the National Civic League (NCL) and the University of Colorado Denver (UCD)  facilitated a 15-month community discussion to develop a Broomfield Sustainable Community Plan (Plan).  Broomfield's Comprehensive Plan Environmental Stewardship section was reviewed  and policies and best practices have been developed to protect the city's environment while promoting economic efficiency and enhancing community vitality. The goal of the project was to utilize a variety of community engagement processes that result in a reasonable, balanced, and fiscally-responsible approach to becoming a more sustainable community. Auditing programs and processes to conserve energy, water and fuel in a more efficient manner will positively affect the environment and may produce substantial cost savings over time.

Broomfield's 30-member council-appointed Task Force successfully completed an intensive community engagement process for the development of the Sustainable Community Plan.  The NCL facilitated the challenging 15-month process.  The UCD Graduate Program on Sustainable Urban Infrastructure provided technical support for the process. Graduate students researched and presented on relevant topics to help with the development and preparation of the Plan.

After a public open house and comment period for the preliminary draft plan, the Task Force responded to the comments and incorporated changes into the draft Plan as appropriate. A public hearing was held on the draft Plan on October 26, 2010. Public comments were taken and a revised draft was presented to City Council for discussion at a study session on November 16, 2010. A second public hearing was held at the December 14, 2010 Council meeting. After a lively discussion, Council tabled the resolution for Plan adoption to the January meeting. The Broomfield Sustainability Plan is now complete. (PDF, 1.5 MB) On January 25, 2011, City Council adopted Resolution 2011-28: Approving the Twentieth Amendment to the 2005 Comprehensive Plan of the City and County of Broomfield and Adopting the Sustainability Plan by Reference. The resolution amends the Comprehensive Plan by repealing and replacing the Environmental Stewardship Section with the Sustainability Plan. Items that were discussed by the Task Force, but not included in the plan, are also available for review. The Final Greenhouse Gas Inventory is complete and available to the public.

For a look inside, please watch the Task Force meeting videos:

Virtual Committee - Online Participation

At the beginning of the process in April 2009, Broomfield community members were invited to sign up to be on a virtual committee to participate in the sustainable community process. The virtual committee received regular email updates on Task Force meetings and were asked to participate in several surveys.  The virtual committee gave residents an opportunity to follow the process online rather than attending meetings in person. Thank you to the virtual committee members who actively participated!

Task Force Membership

Broomfield would also like to thank the community members who served on Task Force for the length of the project. They are as follows:

This project was supported in part through contributions to the National Civic League of Colorado from: FlatIron Crossing, MWH Global, Inc., McWhinney, Urban Frontier, and WalMart Foundation. Thank you!

Meeting Information