NEWSLETTER OF THE LAND USE COALITION

February 13, 2000

Greetings landowners:

Happy 2000! We once again have much to report about our activities and concerns around land use and property rights in Boulder County.

First, we are sorry to say that AJ Chamberlin stepped down from her post as President. With her very busy job as a Realtor, she did not feel she was able to continue to afford the time to maintain her duties as president. She continues to be an active member in her new position as co-treasurer with Jeanne White, about which we are thrilled.

We are very excited to announce that Bret Gibson has taken on the role of the president of the Land Use Coalition. Bret has lived in Boulder all his life and he and his father own and run the Boulder Mountain Lodge. Bret has been very active with the group from the start — working on and heading several of our committees, lending his employees to mail newsletters, and amusing us with his wonderfully dry sense of humor at LUC meetings. Bret’s common-sense approach to dealing with land use issues in Boulder County will undoubtedly lead the Land Use Coalition closer to achieving its goal of protecting landowners.

GET YOUR ACCESS NOW

The Land Use Coalition wants to alert mountain property owners who have or will need road access that traverses in whole or in part over BLM (public domain) lands or Forest Service (reserved from public domain) lands, and who do NOT have a documented access easement from the appropriate agency.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is contemplating selling to Boulder County a large number of parcels of land located in the Gold Hill area. This sale may have serious and detrimental consequences for landowners who do not already have established access to their land and might require an easement across BLM or Forest Service land for access. If the County does purchase this land, they may not grant access easements across the land. Thus, landowners may find their property inaccessible and therefore worthless. Also, the USFS is contemplating closing many miles of their access roads which may prevent access to "in-holding" properties.

To remedy this situation, landowners who are in the position of needing access from the BLM or the USFS, but have not already taken steps to acquire such easements, should apply as soon as possible to preclude being shut out in the future. Information on the application process can be obtained from:

The Colorado Legislative Session for the year 2000 has begun. There are hundreds of bills before the legislators, and we have a sub-committee mulling over those bills, especially those that have the potential to affect individual property owners. You may have heard that there are over 40 bills having to do with limiting growth.

While there are many differing opinions within our group on the subject of limiting growth along the Front Range, we all agree that the rights of individual property owners to enjoy their land need to be protected. Unfortunately for individual landowners, "growth control" initiatives often propose the taking of individual property as the solution to unfettered growth.

Therefore, our legislative subcommittee is working on identifying those bills which have the potential to impact your property rights, along with a plan for how to alert our members to those bills that are most important. Additionally, we will be offering amendments to bills which concern us that will protect landowners while at the same time recognizing that growth is the greatest concern in Colorado now.

We are very fortunate to have Jerry Jump among us. He is down at the state house every day meeting with legislators, keeping tabs on bills that may affect landowners, and then reporting back to us. He is also working closely with Larimer and Pitkin County property rights groups whose goals are similar to ours. He is helping us on a voluntary basis at this point for which we are very appreciative.

Our next newsletter will outline those bills that are of concern to us, along with information about how you can contact their authors. For those of you with access to the Internet, you can view all the bills before the legislators at:

http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/stateleg.html

We are making progress on the un-merge project. We have gathered information from several of you who were affected by this rule, and are nearly ready to present our information to a group of four attorneys who have agreed to give us some direction with the project.

Contact us if you need information about this project, or you can refer to our last newsletter.

SPR SURVEY AND BOTTOMS UP REWORK OF SITE PLAN REVIEW

Whew! What a project this was. Surveys went out to all those who have been through the SPR (Site Plan Review) process, and 15% have responded. We are still compiling the information we collected, but the preliminary data tells us that a great many people feel that the SPR process needs a major overhaul.

The Director of the Boulder County Land Use Department, Graham Billingsley, is aware that we have conducted this survey, and is anxious to see the results. He has also agreed to set up a committee of citizens and professionals to review the SPR process, and find how it can be more streamlined and fair to those wanting to build on their property. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact us.

In the meantime, the Boulder County Land Use Department has assembled a few proposed text amendment changes for the SPR process. These are relatively minor changes, however, we have prepared a response to the proposal which has been presented to the Planning Commission which meets February 16. Among other changes is one which will allow the Boulder County Commissioners to deny Site Plan Review - not previously authorized by the land use code. Graham Billingsley postponed the date for the proposal to be heard by the Planning Commission to allow time for us to prepare a response, for which we are appreciative.

As we reported, Boulder County Open Space wants to buy about 2500 acres of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) parcels up in the Gold Hill/Big Horn Mountain area of Boulder County. The Land Use Coalition had been concerned about the proposed purchases because the County’s plan made no effort to guarantee access to those landowners surrounded by BLM land who did not yet have legal access easements.

Furthermore, the Land Use Coalition had suggested to the County that they purchase the BLM property under the R&PP (Recreation and Public Purposes Act) which would cost taxpayers virtually nothing at $3.50 an acre. We had suggested that some of the millions the County would have saved in this manner could then have gone towards compensating the landowners who would be left with worthless property under the County’s plan. The County publicly rejected our suggestions, and claimed that none of the BLM land was appropriate for the R&PP program.

As we reported in November, the BLM will sell their parcels to Boulder County ONLY if the County agrees to adhere to their policy of guaranteeing access to landowners surrounded by BLM property. (We believe this came about in part because of all our letters and phone calls — Thank you!)

The County his since reversed their position and has abandoned their original plan, and is now pursuing the purchase of the BLM land under the R&PP. Also, they have come around to our way of thinking and are now negotiating purchases of the private property located within the BLM land - all of which was originally suggested last summer by the Land Use Coalition.

We still feel this is a fair and economic way to achieve preservation of some of the most beautiful property in Boulder County while respecting the individual property rights of our friends and neighbors.

We are putting together our budget for the year 2000 which we hope to include in our next newsletter. We want you to know how we will be spending your money. We will also include a review of our spending over the past year, and encourage your comments and recommendations for this year.

STATEWIDE COALITION

At the end of last year we established a good working relationship with land use and property rights advocacy groups in Larimer and Pitkin Counties. As a result of that interaction, we decided to investigate the establishment of a statewide coalition of land use related groups. Such a coalition would have many benefits including strengthening our clout with politicians, sharing critical information, coordinating statewide advocacy activities, and exchanging information on what works and what does not.

We are actively seeking information on other property rights groups across Colorado. If you are aware of such groups in the state, please contact us, or have them contact us. In that the Legislature is in session, expeditious action is encouraged.

We are both pleased and saddened to announce that Kevin Probst has announced that he may run for Boulder County Commissioner from the Mountain District. So far, he is the only announced candidate for Commissioner this year. We are pleased because Kevin is running, and wish him well in his effort. Saddened because our status as a non-profit corporation prevents us from endorsing any candidates for office. Although we will not be supporting any particular candidate, we’d like to inform you of Kevin’s activities within the Land Use Coalition during this past year:

Kevin is a strong supporter of property rights, and has been a leader in defining positions for our organization that are logical, balanced and create positive results for the community and landowners. He played a key role in defeating the "slopes regulations", has been working on the SPR Survey, and has been an excellent spokesman for Land Use Coalition positions.

The Land Use Coalition strongly encourages each individual member to become active in the political party of his/her choice. This is really the best way to influence what happens in Boulder County.

If you wish to contact Kevin:

Kevin Probst
PO Box 1609
Nederland, CO 80466
Phone: 303.258.9257
Email: kprobst@mho.net

MEMBERSHIP and REFLECTIONS

The Land Use Coalition has over 1500 people on its mailing list — real people who are concerned about the future of their property in beautiful Boulder County. We have come such a long way since we first received notice from Ann Mygatt last February that the slopes proposal was about to be adopted into the Boulder County Land Use Code. As a result of the deluge of phone calls and letters to the County (we shut them down for most of a day!), the County set up the Slopes Advisory Committee who determined there was NO basis to restrict building on slopes in regard to health, safety and the environment. The slopes proposal was defeated.

Through your letters and phone calls, the "Takings Bill" was passed, which offers some protection for landowners against the inequitable seizure of their property. As you may recall, Boulder County became the ‘poster child’ for that bill and the abuses of government.

The County’s original proposal for the purchase of the BLM land, which we strongly believe would have devalued hundreds of private properties, effectively is defeated at this point. The Land Use Coalition will continue to monitor the progress of the negotiations between the County and the BLM, and we will continue to speak on your behalf, and to keep you posted.

The local newspapers contact the Land Use Coalition whenever there is an issue concerning private property in the County. Currently, we are working on a new, exciting project which we feel will raise awareness in the community about the hardships landowners face in enjoying their property in Boulder County. More on this in the next newsletter.

Your membership in, and support of The Land Use Coalition has been the single most significant factor in our ability to protect your right to enjoy your property. Your phone calls, your letters, your emails, and your financial contributions have been a dramatic demonstration of the strength and breadth of our support and the importance of our issues. We could not have done it without you!

Our status as a 501(c)(4) educational nonprofit corporation does not allow us to claim contributions as a charitable donation. There might be situations where dues to this organization would be deductable as a business expense, but you should ask your tax accountant about this.

If what you have read strikes a chord with you, please know that we are your friends and neighbors, and that your presence at our meetings, as well as support for our efforts will be most appreciated. We generally meet on the first and third Wednesdays of every month, and we would love to meet you in person.