City of Thornton Comprehensive Plan
The Thornton Comprehensive Plan serves as an advisory document for development in the City. This Plan
gives a broad overview of how the City will grow, and where future development or redevelopment will occur.
This document is not regulatory in nature like the City Code or zoning map but provides an overall vision of
how development should take place in the City in decades to come.
On September 11, 2007, the Thornton City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan. The 2007 Comprehensive
Plan replaces the 1997 Plan, creates the vision for the future and establishes a strategic plan to implement
this vision.
The new plan was initiated in the spring of 2006 with City Council setting the tone and direction for the
plan. Over the next year the plan evolved with the help of citizen committees, citizen input at community
meetings, City staff and a consultant hired by the City to assemble the plan. The process culminated with
the approval of a 2007 Comprehensive Plan by City Council at a public hearing on September 11, 2007. For
more information on how the Comprehensive Plan was developed, see
www.cityofthornton.net/comd/2007_Comp_Plan/home.asp.
The Comprehensive Plan is a document that establishes goals, major strategies and key policies for
the City’s neighborhoods, future jobs, and potential amenities for City residents. These provide the
foundation for achieving the vision of the Comprehensive Plan. The plan also recommends the identification
of catalyst actions which are specific key policies or recommendations that, once initiated, will dictate
the success of the Plan more than any other program or activity.
Major Goals of the Comprehensive Plan:
- City of Quality and Diverse Neighborhoods
- City of Plentiful Quality Jobs
- City of Great Amenities
- City of Active and Engaged Partnerships
The Comprehensive Plan also includes a
Future Land Use Map depicting
land uses within the City’s Future Growth Boundary. Follow the link for
the Land Use Chart
explaining the
land uses shown on the Future Land Use Map. It is important to note that the Future Land Use Map is not a
zoning map; but depicts broad land uses that either reflect existing urban developed land uses in the
City’s growth area or land uses envisaged for the undeveloped parts of the City’s growth area.
The 2007 Comprehensive Plan establishes the City of Thornton’s major goals, strategies and key policies
and recommendations in the following chapters:
The Comprehensive Plan will be the guiding document for future growth in the City of Thornton
and will create the overall parameters for the City’s Master Plans and Subarea Plans. A series of
Master Plans have been developed and adopted as supplements to the Comprehensive Plan and are listed below:
- Water and Wastewater Systems Master Plan
- Parks and Open Space Master Plan
- Transportation Master Plan (formerly known as the Thoroughfare Master Plan)
- Housing Master Plan
In areas of the City where unique challenges and opportunities exist, the Policy Planning
Division develops Subarea Plans to plan for future growth and development in a more detailed
fashion. The Subarea Plans that have been adopted by City Council include:
For additional information on any of the above items, please contact the Policy Planning
Division at 303-538-7295.
Long-Range Planning