§ 37-90-141 — Exclusion of lands

Colorado § 37-90-141

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 37: Water and
• Art.: Underground Water

Text

(1) (a) The boundaries of any district
organized under the provisions of this article may be changed in the manner
prescribed in this section, but the change of boundaries of the district shall not
impair or affect its organization or its rights in or to property or any of its rights and
privileges whatsoever, nor shall it affect or impair or discharge any contract,
obligation, lien, or charge for or upon which it might be liable or chargeable had any
such change of boundaries not been made. An election for the exclusion of real
property in the district may be initiated by a petition, in writing, filed with the
secretary of the board.

(b) The petition shall describe the boundaries of the territory proposed for
exclusion with such certainty as to enable a property owner to determine whether
or not his property is within the district and shall contain a prayer for the exclusion
of such territory. Such petition shall be signed by not less than fifteen percent of
the taxpaying electors within the territory proposed for exclusion, and such petition
must be acknowledged in the same manner that conveyances of land are required
to be acknowledged.

(c) If lands proposed for exclusion from a district, duly organized under the
provisions of this article, are located outside the water basin or aquifer within which
the district lies, as determined by the commission, such lands are eligible to be
excluded under the provisions of this article and not otherwise.

(d) Within twenty days after the filing of the petition, the board shall
examine the petition, and, if it finds that it bears the requisite number of signatures
and otherwise meets the stated requirements, it shall accept the petition and shall
fix a time and place, not less than thirty days nor more than fifty days after the date
of such acceptance, for a hearing thereon. The secretary of the board shall publish
a notice of such hearing by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in
every county in which any portion of the district and the proposed territory for
exclusion are located. Such notice shall state the nature of the petition, the
description of the territories proposed for exclusion, and that any person owning
any interest in real property within such territories or within the district
encompassing such territories may appear at the hearing and show cause in writing
why the petition should not be granted.

(2) The board, at the time and place fixed, or at such times to which the
hearing may be continued, shall proceed to hear the petition and all objections
thereto presented in writing. The failure of any person to object in writing shall be
deemed an assent on his part to the exclusion of the lands as prayed for in the
petition. Upon completion of the hearing, the board may order changes in the
boundaries of the lands proposed for exclusion from the district by the inclusion or
exclusion of land therefrom upon finding that such change in boundaries would be
hydrologically, geologically, and geographically sound. The board, in its discretion,
and on conditions to be determined by the board and accepted by the petitioners,
may grant the petition, deny it, or grant it as to part of the proposed exclusion of
territory and deny it as to the remaining portion.

(3) Any action of the board with respect to the exclusion of territory from an
existing district may be reviewed by the district court in appeal proceedings filed
within ten days after the board's decision has been announced.

(4) If the district within which lands are excluded has incurred any prior
bonded indebtedness, outstanding at the time of such exclusion, such excluded
lands shall continue to be liable for the proportionate share of any such bonded
indebtedness which they were under obligation to pay at the time of exclusion.

Legislative History

Source: L. 67: p. 279, � 11. C.R.S. 1963: � 148-18-41.