Plans

Central City joined  Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy program to help communities achieve energy goals and enable local residents and businesses to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprints. Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy will help Central City put its energy goals into action. On October 6, 2020, City Council adopted Resolution 20-35 approving the Energy Action Plan and authorizing execution of the Memorandum of Understanding for Phase 2 - Plan Implementation. 

Our goals include both residential and commercial energy efficiency as well as providing EV charging in the downtown core. 

In effort to encourage residential participation in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, we prepared the Energy Resource Guide for Historic Residential Properties, though this may be applied to non-historic structures. Learn about programs and rebates available to homeowners and start saving today! 

For commercial properties, the average Central City business spends about $2,500 annually on energy, though some businesses may pay more or less depending on size, equipment, and building efficiency meaning there are good opportunities to increase efficiencies across the board. A great first step may be participating in Xcel Energy's Business Energy Assessment and a quick review of the Commercial Resource Guide. 

The HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign of Colorado is designed to foster local government policies that improve access to healthy eating and active living (HEAL) in communities throughout Colorado. The campaign is a partnership between LiveWell Colorado, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to healthy eating and active living by removing barriers that inequitably and disproportionately affect low-income communities and people of color, and the Colorado Municipal League, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has served and represented Colorado's cities and towns since 1923. The goal for the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign of Colorado is to help build healthier communities and support local leaders in their commitment to address both a city’s physical and fiscal health.

In fall of 2018, Central City received funding from LiveWell Colorado to conduct a food assessment. See the final deliverable below:

New development imposes increasing demands upon the City for law enforcement, fire, and public works services as well as related capital facilities and culture and recreation infrastructure. Chapter 4, Article X of the Municipal Code establishes Impact Fees which are collected at the time of building permit issuance for the purpose of funding additional services (i.e., law enforcement, fire, and public works) and capital facilities and infrastructure. City Council commissioned a new impact fee study in 2022 in order to: 

  • Adopt impact fees for other categories of capital facilities, such as parks and recreation;
  • To expand the applicability of such fees to commercial and/or industrial development; or 
  • To increase or decrease such fees based on levels of service and methodologies presented in such future impact fee study. 

Through passage of Ordinance No. 23-02, City Council approved  the City of Central City Development Impact Fee Study dated December 19, 2022 prepared by Willdan Financial Services. The final study is available here.

The City of Central prepared the Central City Trails Master Plan (Plan) paid for in part by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). The Plan addresses potential trail development for an intra-city trail network, trail connections to neighboring networks, and outdoor recreational opportunities. The Final Trails Master Plan was approved by City Council on December 1, 2020. 

Technical Advisory Panels (TAPs)

Since 1947, the Urban Land Institute Technical Advisory Services program has assembled 400+ ULI-member teams to help TAP sponsors find solutions for issues including affordable housing, economic development, placemaking, healthy communities, walkability, public-private partnerships and infrastructure, among others.

Technical Advisory Panels (TAPs), composed of qualified and unbiased ULI Colorado members who volunteer their time, bring relevant expertise directly into communities to address difficult real estate and land use challenges. TAPs are designed to provide practical and actionable recommendations that produce results on the ground. They are not academic exercises, but are intended to be blueprints for positive change. TAPs help communities establish this direction and inform next steps, including targeted investments in planning, economic development and infrastructure.

In Colorado, ULI Technical Advisory Panels have provided solutions for such key sites as Five Points, the Colorado Convention Center, Coors Field, Fitzsimons, and the Denver Justice Center. Since 2003, ULI Colorado has completed more than 50 TAPs leading to positive policy changes and built projects.