FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CROSSROADS HORIZON SEEKS COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES

(Lamar, Colorado, February 22, 2024) The City of Lamar will continue its work on its new ten-year comprehensive plan, Crossroads HORIZON with multiple workshops, focus groups, meetings, and other opportunities to give feedback on March 5 – 7, 2024 for City and area residents to learn more and leave their handprints on Lamar’s future.  Events will kick off with a Community Drop-In Workshop at 6:00 – 8:00 pm on Tuesday, March 5th at the Lamar Senior Center at 407 E. Olive.  

During the Community Drop-in Workshop, attendees will consider themes and strategies for the community’s growth and development, participate in hands-on activities and discussions, and engage with fellow community members, stakeholders, and planners to share ideas. The public is encouraged to attend this meeting. Those who are unable to attend Tuesday evening can attend March’s Common Grounds with City Council at 7:00 am on Wednesday, March 6th in the Cultural Events Center at the City Complex. 

The project team will be conducting multiple meetings with specific stakeholder groups. Additional targeted engagement opportunities include:

The comprehensive plan is a long-term roadmap for guiding growth, development, and investments in the city. It generally defines paths promoting the community’s vision, values, goals, and strategies and serves as the framework of the community for the next five to ten years providing guidance and implementing strategies for decisions made on public projects, programs, budget, and code updates and regulations. Crossroads HORIZON will help Lamar citizens and leadership define a path that aligns preserving what is best about Lamar with the changes citizens and leadership want to see to thrive in the next ten years. 

Prowers County is also engaging in its own five-year comprehensive plan for the unincorporated areas of the county – land not within Lamar, Granada, Holly, or Wiley city limits. The two plans will have touch points, including work to create a joint planning area immediately adjacent to Lamar. Prowers County’s Land Use Administrator, Michelle Hiigel, is a member of the Pathfinder Steering Committee. 

The Crossroads HORIZON effort began in late 2023 with multiple stakeholder workshops, an extremely successful Oktoberfest booth with engagement activities, work session with the Lamar High School Student Council, and a presentation to City Council. Future activities include the Pathfinder Steering Committee assisting in establishing a guide for the plan’s elements and content review, and the Navigator Youth Committee advising from a perspective for future generations. 

The City will mail postcards with an online survey link after the conclusion of this round of outreach activities. This will be the community’s opportunity to help prioritize themes and concepts discussed during the sessions. Those who are interested in tracking the plan’s progress can find more details, steps, and interim results through a microsite available at the City’s Community Development page, www.ci.lamar.co.us/futureforward.

Please contact Anne-Marie Crampton, Community Development director, for additional information or see www.ci.lamar.co.us/futureforward on the effort.                                 

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