(1) Every county in the state that does
not have a county planning commission on July 1, 1971, shall create a county
planning commission in accordance with the provisions of section 30-28-103. Every
county planning commission in the state shall develop, propose, and recommend
subdivision regulations, and the board of county commissioners shall adopt and
enforce subdivision regulations for all land within the unincorporated areas of the
county in accordance with this section not later than September 1, 1972. Before
finally adopting any subdivision regulations, the board of county commissioners
shall hold a public hearing thereon, and at least fourteen days' notice of the time
and place of such hearing shall be given by at least one publication in a newspaper
of general circulation in the county. Before adopting any such subdivision
regulations, the board of county commissioners may revise, alter, or amend any
such subdivision regulations developed, proposed, or recommended by the county
planning commission. Such subdivision regulations shall be in full force and effect
and enforced by the board of county commissioners.
(2) Prior to the adoption of the regulations referred to in this section, a public
hearing shall be held thereupon in the county in which said territory or any part
thereof is situated. A copy of such regulations shall be filed with the county clerk
and recorder of the county in which said territory is situated.
(3) Subdivision regulations adopted by a board of county commissioners
pursuant to this section shall require subdividers to submit to the board of county
commissioners data, surveys, analyses, studies, plans, and designs, in the form
prescribed by the board of county commissioners, of the following items:
(a) Property survey and ownership of the surface and mineral estates
including mineral lessees, if any;
(b) Relevant site characteristics and analyses applicable to the proposed
subdivision including the following, which shall be submitted by the subdivider with
the sketch plan:
(I) Reports concerning streams, lakes, topography, and vegetation;
(II) Reports concerning geologic characteristics of the area significantly
affecting the land use and determining the impact of such characteristics on the
proposed subdivision;
(III) In areas of potential radiation hazard to the proposed future land use,
evaluations of these potential radiation hazards;
(IV) Maps and tables concerning suitability of types of soil in the proposed
subdivision, in accordance with any standard soil classifications and procedures
therefor, for the proposed use;
(c) A plat and other documentation showing the layout or plan of
development, including, where applicable, the following information:
(I) Total development area;
(II) Total number of proposed dwelling units;
(III) Total number of square feet of proposed nonresidential floor space;
(IV) Total number of proposed off-street parking spaces, excluding those
associated with single-family residential development;
(V) Estimated total number of gallons per day of water system requirements
where a distribution system is proposed;
(VI) Estimated total number of gallons per day of sewage to be treated
where a central sewage treatment facility is proposed or sewage disposal means
and suitability where no central sewage treatment facility is proposed;
(VII) Estimated construction cost and proposed method of financing of the
streets and related facilities, water distribution system, sewage collection system,
storm drainage facilities, and such other utilities as may be required of the
developer by the county;
(VIII) Maps and plans for facilities to prevent storm waters in excess of
historic runoff, caused by the proposed subdivision, from entering, damaging, or
being carried by conduits, water supply ditches and appurtenant structures, and
other storm drainage facilities;
(d) Adequate evidence that a water supply that is sufficient in terms of
quality, quantity, and dependability will be available to ensure an adequate supply
of water for the type of subdivision proposed. Such evidence may include, but shall
not be limited to:
(I) Evidence of ownership or right of acquisition of or use of existing and
proposed water rights;
(II) Historic use and estimated yield of claimed water rights;
(III) Amenability of existing rights to a change in use;
(IV) Evidence that public or private water owners can and will supply water
to the proposed subdivision stating the amount of water available for use within the
subdivision and the feasibility of extending service to that area;
(V) Evidence concerning the potability of the proposed water supply for the
subdivision.
(e) Evidence that provision has been made for facility sites, easements, and
rights of access for electrical and natural gas utility service sufficient to ensure
reliable and adequate electric or, if applicable, natural gas service for the proposed
subdivision. Submission of a letter of agreement between the subdivider and utility
serving the site shall be deemed sufficient to establish that adequate provision for
electric or, if applicable, natural gas service to a proposed subdivision has been
made.
(4) Subdivision regulations adopted by the board of county commissioners
pursuant to this section shall also include, as a minimum, provisions governing the
following matters:
(a) Sites and land areas for schools and parks when such are reasonably
necessary to serve the proposed subdivision and the future residents thereof. Such
provisions may include:
(I) Reservation of such sites and land areas, for acquisition by the county;
(II) Dedication of the sites and land areas to the county, to a school district,
or to the public or, in lieu thereof, payment of a sum of money not exceeding the fair
market value of the sites and land areas or a combination of such dedication and
such payment; except that the value of the combination shall not exceed the fair
market value of the sites and land areas. Any sums, when required, or moneys to be
paid to the board of county commissioners pursuant to this paragraph (a) may, if
approved by the board of county commissioners, be paid directly to a school
district. If the sites and land areas are dedicated to the county, to a school district,
or the public, the board of county commissioners may, at the request of the
affected entity, sell the land. The subdivider shall have a right of first refusal to
purchase all or a portion of any land dedicated by the subdivider to a county, school
district, or other public entity pursuant to this subparagraph (II) before the land is
sold, transferred, or conveyed to any party other than a school district. Prior to
selling or otherwise transferring ownership of the land, the county, school district,
or other public entity selling the land shall provide written notice to the subdivider
of its intention to sell or transfer ownership of all or any portion of the land. The
subdivider shall then have sixty days to provide written notice to the county, school
district, or other public entity of the subdivider's interest in purchasing all or a
portion of the land to be sold. The purchase of the land by the subdivider shall be
upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration as the parties may
mutually agree; however, in no event shall the purchase price exceed the fair
market value of the land at the time the subdivider dedicated the land to the
county, school district, or other public entity. Any right of first refusal created
pursuant to this subparagraph (II) shall expire twenty years from the date the land
was dedicated by the subdivider to a county, school district, or other public entity.
Except as provided in subsection (4.3) of this section, any such sums, when
required, or moneys paid to the board of county commissioners from the sale of the
dedicated sites and land areas shall be held by the board of county commissioners:
(A) For the acquisition of reasonably necessary sites and land areas or for
other capital outlay purposes for schools or parks;
(B) For the development of the sites and land areas for park purposes; or
(C) For growth-related planning functions by school districts for educational
purposes;
(III) Dedication of such sites and land areas for the use and benefit of the
owners and future owners in the proposed subdivision;
(b) Standards and technical procedures applicable to storm drainage plans
and related designs, in order to ensure proper drainage ways, which may require, in
the opinion of the board of county commissioners, detention facilities which may be
dedicated to the county or the public, as are deemed necessary to control, as nearly
as possible, storm waters generated exclusively within a subdivision from a one
hundred year storm which are in excess of the historic runoff volume of storm water
from the same land area in its undeveloped and unimproved condition;
(c) Standards and technical procedures applicable to sanitary sewer plans
and designs, including soil percolation testing and required percolation rates and
site design standards for on-lot sewage disposal systems when applicable;
(d) Standards and technical procedures applicable to water systems.
(4.3) After final approval of a subdivision plan or plat and receipt of
dedications of sites and land areas or payments in lieu thereof required pursuant to
subparagraph (II) of paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of this section, the board of
county commissioners shall give written notification to the appropriate school
districts and local government entities. Following such notice, a school district or
local government entity may request periodic transfer on no longer than an annual
basis of such land or moneys to the district or entity. When a board of county
commissioners determines that the school district or local government entity has
demonstrated a need for the land or moneys based on a long-range capital plan or
evidence of the impact of the subdivision on the district or entity, or both, it shall
periodically transfer on no longer than an annual basis the land or moneys to the
appropriate school district or local government entity. The district or entity shall
use the transferred land or moneys only for a purpose authorized by sub-subparagraphs (A) to (C) of subparagraph (II) of paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of
this section. Any moneys received by the board of county commissioners that are
transferred pursuant to this subsection (4.3) are not county revenues for purposes
of paragraph (d) of subsection (7) of section 20 of article X of the state constitution.
(4.5) Subdivision regulations adopted by a board of county commissioners
may provide for the protection and assurance of access to sunlight for solar energy
devices by considering the use of restrictive covenants or solar easements, height
restrictions, side yard and setback requirements, street orientation and width
requirements, or other permissible forms of land use controls.
(5) No subdivision shall be approved under section 30-28-110 (3) and (4) until
such data, surveys, analyses, studies, plans, and designs as may be required by this
section and by the county planning commission or the board of county
commissioners have been submitted, reviewed, and found to meet all sound
planning and engineering requirements of the county contained in its subdivision
regulations.
(6) No board of county commissioners shall approve any preliminary plan or
final plat for any subdivision located within the county unless the subdivider has
provided the following materials as part of the preliminary plan or final plat
subdivision submission:
(a) Evidence to establish that definite provision has been made for a water
supply that is sufficient in terms of quantity, dependability, and quality to provide
an appropriate supply of water for the type of subdivision proposed;
(b) Evidence to establish that, if a public sewage disposal system is
proposed, provision has been made for such system and, if other methods of
sewage disposal are proposed, evidence that such systems will comply with state
and local laws and regulations which are in effect at the time of submission of the
preliminary plan or final plat;
(c) Evidence to show that all areas of the proposed subdivision which may
involve soil or topographical conditions presenting hazards or requiring special
precautions have been identified by the subdivider and that the proposed uses of
these areas are compatible with such conditions.
(7) and (8) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2005, p. 668, � 6, effective June 1,
2005.)
(9) The subdivision regulations adopted under this section may provide that,
without a hearing or compliance with any of the submission, referral, or review
requirements in this section and section 30-28-136, the board of county
commissioners may approve a correction plat if the sole purpose of such correction
plat is to correct one or more technical errors in an approved plat and where such
correction plat is consistent with an approved preliminary plan. However, if the
technical error or errors of an approved plat meet the description of any errors
under section 38-51-111 (2), C.R.S., a surveyor's affidavit of correction, as defined in
section 38-51-102, C.R.S., shall be prepared in lieu of a correction plat.
(10) It is recognized that surface and mineral estates are separate and
distinct interests in land and that one may be severed from the other and that the
owners of subsurface mineral interests and their lessees, if any, are entitled to the
notice specified in section 24-65.5-103, C.R.S., and shall be recognized by the
commission as having the same rights and privileges as surface owners.
(11) The subdivision regulations adopted under this section may provide for
the payment of a sum of money or proof of a line of credit or other fees in
connection with a subdivision on a per-acre basis, to represent an equitable
contribution to the total costs of the drainage facilities in the drainage basin in
which the subdivision is located. The subdivision regulations shall provide for the
repayment to a subdivider, from any surplus basin funds available, of any costs he
incurs because of compliance with the plans for the development of drainage
basins in excess of the sum of the drainage fees assessed against his acreage.
When the subdivision regulations require such payment, a plan for the development
of drainage basins shall be adopted pursuant to section 30-28-106 (3)(d). The
provisions of this section shall not apply to any area which is within an existing
drainage district organized or created pursuant to law without the approval of such
district.
(12) The subdivision regulations adopted under this section may provide that
a subdivider is entitled to fair-share reimbursement of the cost of any streets and
related facilities, water distribution systems, sewage collection systems, storm
drainage facilities, and other improvements the county requires the subdivider to
construct adjacent to or outside the subdivision. Any such reimbursable costs shall
be paid to the subdivider, less any reimbursement by the county, by the owner or
owners of property that is adjacent to or has presumed use of the improvements
when that property is developed. Subdivision regulations providing for such
reimbursement shall prescribe the period, not to exceed fifteen years from the date
of completion of an improvement, during which a subdivider may seek
reimbursement. Subdivision regulations providing for such reimbursement may
entitle subdividers to interest on the amount to be reimbursed.