It’s been a year since Chaffee County passed the new Comprehensive plan for development. The Comprehensive plan included a plan for sustainability. However the Land Use Code has not been updated and, as a result, Chaffee County is still operating under the old Land Use Code.
The County has hired the firm Logan Simpson to write the new LUC. However the work has not started and there is no indication how long this will take.
Here’s a letter to the editor in the 1-18-22 Mountain Mail expressing frustration over the slow progress.
In the mean time, while still under the old rules, the County Commissioners are pushing to get new development applications through the County Planning process as quickly as possible.
In case you missed it, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is forcing a major Land Use Code (LUC) revision. This week they held 4 public hearings in 4 days, despite election-day distractions. Why rush? Two BOCC are term-limited. The LUC crawled for nearly 3 years. Suddenly, it’s an emergency!
This LUC revision began 1/2022. Consultants with local knowledge and sensibilities were not hired. Instead, a consultant from Tempe AZ was paid $175,658, then quietly dismissed 11/2023. A prestigious law firm from Denver received another $115,738 to create the LUC draft now expedited for approval. Note: one invoice showed the LUC only 67% complete on 10/5/2024!
One controversial aspect is changing from the current 2-acre minimums to build a home, to minimally require 20-35 acres in rural areas. Are “billionaires only” Chaffee County’s future?
This all happened before. The last LUC revision in 2014 changed the longtime minimum from 2-acres to 5-acres. Two years later, the BOCC reversed themselves and reinstated 2-acre minimums, citing many concerns including housing affordability.
Current Chaffee Planning Commission Vice-Chair Marjo Curgus did not support reinstating 2-acre minimums in 2016:
“The code will always need tweaking, but it is about those shared goals and making sure that you’re working toward those. It isn’t about the perfect tweak, it’s the process – are we using the right process to accomplish those goals,” said Curgus, who recently initiated a Chaffee United petition asking for more citizen involvement, which within a week had 200 signatures.”
Flash forward to 2024, Curgus led the Planning Meeting last week unanimously passing the LUC despite a rushed process/public upheaval. Is citizen involvement only good if it furthers the Curgus agenda?
What is the source of all this LUC push? Environmentalism. “Let’s Keep City in the City, County in the County.” Great slogan, but over 80% of Chaffee County is government-owned or subject to conservation easement. Only 3% or 20,000 acres of Chaffee County is even available for subdivision. The BOCC is now fighting to increase their dominion over this 3%, while dodging responsibility for the 3-year delay and the damaging 2.5 year old moratorium they placed on most development.
Property rights must be protected. Slow the process down, let the people be heard. Grant selective exemptions to the most moratorium-damaged landowners to build under the current LUC. BOCC procrastination should not bankrupt people whose only mistake was trusting their government.
