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Oak Creek creating new Comprehensive Plan

Snow falls outside Oak Creek Town Hall in this photo from November 2024.
Trevor Ballantyne/Steamboat Pilot & Today

The town of Oak Creek embarked last week on the year-long process of creating a new Comprehensive Plan. 

Joined by Summit-based consultants Norris Design, the town board, town planning commissioners and Mayor Melissa Dobbins began the initial conversation on what the process will entail, highlighting key areas on which they will focus, including housing, economic development, land use, transportation, and parks and recreation. 

“It’s a huge opportunity to have the community say what their vision is over the next five to 10 years,” said Norris Design Planner Kate Berg at the Jan. 22 meeting. 



Berg described the plan as an advisory document to help the board focus on priorities and goals, guide land-use decision making, and detail policies and actions to accomplish goals and address challenges. 

Berg emphasized community engagement in “creating a policy guide for smart growth and sustainable development done in a way that honors what you care about and preserves the town’s heritage and character.” 



The first four months of the process will include data and input gathering and “a lot of listening,” Berg said. A contract with Norris Design was approved by the board Jan. 9 for an amount not to exceed $155,000. 

The last Oak Creek Comprehensive Plan was created in 2015. Following adoption of that plan, “there has not been a lot of building activity since,” according to the town’s 2024 Request for Proposal for the 2025 plan. “But in the last two years building activity has increased and the population has grown.” 

Board member and business owner Sascha Stanger suggested some of the town’s biggest challenges entail “a lot of empty buildings” and others in need of repair, a pet-waste pickup problem, and a need for increased tax revenue and more collaboration among businesses.

While the 2015 plan projected consistent annual population growth for the town, census data shows a decline in population.

According to 2023 census data, Oak Creek had a population of 858 people, down from 920 in 2015. 

According to 2010 census data, there were 501 total housing units in Oak Creek, with 133 vacant. Renters accounted for 15% of housing units in the 2010 data. There are currently 495 housing units, with rentals accounting for 34% of the total, according to the Request for Proposal. 

“The Town knows it needs to diversify and improve its housing base through encouraging housing building and stock,” the RFP stated.

The consensus among the board was to promote “infill” growth before looking to expand housing in areas near or outside the town’s boundaries. Affordable and attainable housing was also a focus.

“Oak Creek is still one of the cheaper places to live in the Yampa Valley but rising home costs will continue to put a strain on the community,” the RFP states. “The median housing price in Oak Creek was $390,000 in March; the average median household income in Oak Creek is $54,545 and as such will only support a housing price of $313,000.”

Oak Creek Planning Commission Chair Andy Benjamin noted the declining public school population. 

“Build a new affordable housing community and you will bring that population right back up,” said Norris Design Principal Elena Scott.

“Developers are not interested in that market of real estate,” responded Benjamin. 

Benjamin pushed back against the notion that adding more $1.5 million homes to the market increases housing attainability for the workforce. 

He also said the “agricultural community, to me, is the thing at the greatest threat of being lost.”

Dobbins talked about creating additional job opportunities and business amenities to allow more people to work and spend their money in Oak Creek rather than needing to drive to Steamboat, which she said would also provide a much-needed boost in sales tax revenue. 

“The Town is also seeing an economic future that is uncertain due to the challenges that are projected for the future, specifically related to the transitions occurring in coal-related industries including the railroad employment, support industries that are housed and located in Oak Creek respectively, and the pending Discovery Land/Stagecoach development six miles from Town,” according to the RFP. 

The application review of Discovery Land Company’s proposed Stagecoach Mountain Ranch private ski area and luxury housing development has not yet been started by the county planning commission. 

Dobbins suggested learning more about how Discovery’s Yellowstone Club in Montana impacted the surrounding communities. 

“In updating its Comprehensive Plan, the Town is looking to assure that the growth that does happen is sustainable, assists and supports transitioning coal-industry workers, considers local values, and looks to retain the small town, rural character of the community,” according to the RFP.

The next steps will be the formation of a steering committee and focus groups, Berg said.

“I’m so excited about this project,” Dobbins said. “If there’s ever been a time for the community to participate — it’s now.” 


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