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C4-Concerned Citizens of Custer County Motto: Keeping Custer County Special Land Use and Water |
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Home • Meeting Notes and Agendas • Position Papers • Land Use and Water • Charter • Email |
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County Subdivision Regulation The County Subdivision Regulation dated 1973 is being updated; the update process began as early as 2003. During 2005 several update workshops were held by the Planning Commission and BOCC. The update process stopped when an unresolved disagreement surfaced surrounding a proposal to add Minor Subdivision and Cluster Development regulatory wording and procedures into the revised Subdivision Regulation. Early in 2006, the County requested expert opinions from Mr. Gary Raso (attorney) and Mr. Kim Headley (Director of Planning and Development, Pueblo County) regarding the draft updated regulation and specifically regarding the proposal to include Minor Subdivisions and Cluster Developments in the revised regulation. See their opinions at: Headley and Raso. The update process continues through 2008 and the final product should be approved in 2009. Costs to the County for Rural Residential Development C4 position papers refer to a Colo Stat Univ document which reports the results of studies regarding the fiscal impacts of rural residential land development. An executive summary of that paper and study is found at this link. A complete copy of the paper can be found on the web. In summary, for Custer County the cost to the County for rural residential development is $1.30 for every $1.00 of county revenue the development generates. The implication is that a careful review of county costs should be conducted before adopting a residential land use policy or approving any specific rural development. |
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Minor Subdivisions (MSDs) Mr. Kim Headley, Director Planning and Development Pueblo County has recommended to the Custer Co Commissioners that MSDs not be used in the County. See his quote at Headley pg 8. On 2 May 07, the BOCC voted to exempt zones I & II from cluster development and minor subdivision consideration. |
Water C4 regards water as the most important and least understood natural resource in the County. Consequently, any land use decision must make water impact the key decision factor. On 28 May, 12:30 PM Cliff Lanes, the Upper Ark Water Augmentation plan will be briefed to the BOCC and County citizens--please attend. C4 is running a series of 3 water articles in the Tribune beginning on 5 May. See article 1, Who Owns the Water. Article 2, Augmentation Plans. H2O Ranch Sale On 2 Apr 08, the 480 acre H2O ranch sold to the city of Fountain, Co., along with 700 acre feet of water. The cost was $5800/acre foot, totally over $4 million. C4 is concerned about the potential for other water based ranch sales and the impact on the Valley. What the City of Fountain will do with the 480 acre ranch is also a concern.
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Cluster Developments (CDs) CDs are a Rural Land Use Policy technique that is defined in Colorado Statutes addressing CD. The Commissioners have decided that CD will pertain only to zones 3 & 4 (10 and 5 acre parcels). The County is drafting wording for CD to be refined by the Planning Commission in public workshops but this action was dormant in 2008. On 27 Aug 07, C4 sent its position paper to the Commissioners which provides research, analysis and the C4 position on CD in zones 3 & 4. See the position paper page of this site for the paper. The state attorney general has decided on water use for livestock and domestic animals in cluster development open space. An informal email from that office seems to say watering of livestock and domestic animals in such open space is not allowed. This is a key area that must be further researched and understood. |
Master Plan (MP) The County Master Plan was adopted 10 Apr 02, and can be seen on the County web site. The Planning Commission has been tasked to update the MP in 2008 but no formal action occurred. The Planning Commission will begin public workshops to update the MP on 26 Feb 09. C4 has presented a MP position paper to the PC for consideration. The paper addresses principles which can be used as guidelines when specific MP wording is considered. The principles address the umbrella nature of the plan, putting more teeth into the plan even though it is advisory in nature, balancing individual property rights with the impacts of exercising those rights on others (collective rights), adding provisions for growth areas, and insuring the majority view of citizens is reflected in the final MP revision.
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Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) On 17 Apr 07, C4 sent and orientation letter to the Board of County Commissioners which also contained a request that zones 1 & 2 be exempt from PUD eligibility. PUDs are currently allowed in the 2002 amended version of the county Zoning Resolution Regulation. The BOCC sent C4's request (17 Apr 07 letter) to the Chair of the Planning Commission to be considered as the Zoning Resolution is updated sometime this year. C4's position on PUDs in zones 3 & 4 has been drafted and can be seen in the position paper page of this web site. The current PUD dwelling increase impact in zones 1 & 2 can be seen at C4's master plan zoning resolution chart. This 1000% density increase over normal zoning is addressed in C4's position paper. The Humboldt Peak LLC has applied for PUD approval on an 80 acre parcel in zone 1 (valley floor). C4 is drafting a position paper on this application and will post it to the web by 8 Sep. |
Rural Land Use Policy (MLUP) In Aug of 2006, the Colorado Counties Inc, published a document which does a good job of defining RLUP and offering differing perspectives regarding how counties like Custer can approach rural land use. see RLUP. In the Colorado Revised Statutes, RULP is a required part of any Cluster Development initiative. In Nov 2008, the Colo Office of Smart Growth released its Model Land Use Code (MLUC) for use by small and medium sized counties. C4 believes the MLUC offers benefits to Custer Co. On 2 Jun 09 at 1:00 PM, Court House, C4 will present a MLUC information briefing to the Planning Commission about the code. The public is welcome.
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C4-Concerned Citizens of Custer County |
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| Updated 05/14/2009 | |