Gary W. Price was hired as Colfax’s new planning director in October.

A 1982 graduate of UCLA with a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning, Price is a veteran city planner, who has served in that capacity in La Quinta, San Luis Obispo, Grass Valley, Marysville, and now, Colfax.

When Price arrived in La Quinta in the mid 1980s, it was a newly incorporated desert town of 5,000 people about 20 miles southeast of Palm Springs.

“That was an incredible experience,” Price recalls. “We started from scratch.”

La Quinta is now a world-class golf resort with a population of more than 40,000. It is one of the best-planned communities in the Palm Springs area, he says.

After about five years of developing and implementing La Quinta’s general plan, Price took on city planning duties in San Luis Obispo on the Central California coast.

Working with urban planning professors at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Price recalled, “we did some real cool planning.”

This included keeping development “off the ridgelines” of the hills in and around the city.

“We told developers, ‘If you’re going to build here, you’re going to do it right,’” he said.

A key element of the planning strategy was to tie growth to employment development, he said. This is a philosophy he intends to bring to Colfax.

In 1990, Price landed the job of city planner for Grass Valley, where he still lives with his family. At the time, Grass Valley was an economically depressed community with many empty storefronts downtown.

For the next 14 years, Price worked to revitalize downtown Grass Valley using the “Main Street” model, a national program to preserve the historic nature of a community while restoring economic vitality.

He was also instrumental in developing business parks that have been critical to attracting high-tech businesses to the city.

After Grass Valley, Price took on the challenge of revitalizing downtown Marysville, again with the dual focus of filling in empty storefronts without sacrificing the historic identity of the town.

Maintaining the “uniqueness and character” of a community is a core component of Price’s personal philosophy of planning.

“When you’re in Grass Valley or Marysville or Colfax, you know where you’re at,” he explains – as opposed as just another nondescript stop on the freeway.

Even though it’s a part-time (20 hours per week) position, Price says he took on the job of Colfax city planner in October because this is a critical time for the community.

By state law, Colfax must update its general plan – a roadmap for development of the town through the year 2030. Housing, traffic, parks, economic development and the revitalization of historic downtown Colfax are all on the table.

Banking on his past successes in Grass Valley and Marysville, Price believes he has the experience and expertise to guide Colfax through the challenging process of planning for the future.

He concedes it has been a frustrating start. Two newly appointed planning commissioners have resigned. Martin Strauss withdrew because he commutes and works in Sacramento, which doesn’t leave him enough time to be a planning commissioner.

Lynn Tausch left the commission, citing too many potential conflicts of interest because she owns or manages multiple properties in Colfax.

“We’re recruiting new commissioners,” Price reports.

Both residents and business owners are eligible and encouraged to apply at city hall – or by contacting Price at 346-2313 or colfaxprice@foothill.net.

Planning commissioners are appointed by the city council.

Finally, Price says he is hoping for a good public turnout for the next general plan community meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Sierra Vista Community Center.

The Master Plan for Historic Downtown Colfax will be the topic of discussion. He is especially anxious to obtain the input of business owners, because the development of local business is the city’s best hope for the future.

After all, Price reasons, “planning is hope.”