EAGLE COUNTY — Residents of the Eagle County portion of the Roaring Fork Valley can get involved in a process that will help determine how the area develops and grows.

The county is updating the Mid Valley Community Master Plan, so the planning staff needs input from residents of the area. There is an overall survey for the midvalley planning area, which includes El Jebel, Blue Lake, Sopris Village and Summit Vista, as well as parts of Basalt, the Fryingpan Valley and Missouri Heights. There are additional surveys for each of four “character areas”: the Highway 82 corridor; Emma; Missouri Heights and the Fryingpan Valley.

The surveys can be found online at www.eaglecounty.us/commDev/communityplan.cfm or a respondent can call Kris Aoki, a planner with the Eagle County Community Development department, at 970-328-8752. Surveys will be accepted through the end of July.

Aoki said the hope is to have the master plan updated by January 2009, but there’s a lot of work to accomplish. After the survey results are compiled, the county will appoint a technical advisory committee. Citizens without a planning background are encouraged to apply. The committee will hold its first meeting in mid-August to help the planners determine goals and policies that will dictate land-use patterns.

The planning effort will determine “what we want Eagle County to look like in the next 10 to 15 years,” Aoki said.