CATCH 22! A LAND USE NIGHTMARE!
BOULDER COUNTY APPROVES HOUSE PLAN THEN DENIES ACCESS TO THE SITE
Just last week, the Boulder County Commissioners admitted at a public hearing that the Site Plan Review process is used as a “growth management tool.” The County often imposes outrageous conditions and requires expensive experts, engineers, planners and attorneys - knocking the “little guy” out of the game. That leaves only wealthy property owners who can afford to build in Boulder County – and they often feel compelled to build large “trophy homes” to justify the enormous costs.
LIZ WEED’S STORY
Fifteen years ago, house cleaner Liz Weed had scraped together enough money to buy 18 acres in Sunshine Canyon, free and clear. She planned to build a small, environmentally friendly “earth ship” house with her partner, Ron, who is disabled with serious health problems. Liz knew she would have to build a long driveway to her home site but made sure she had all the necessary legal easements in place. She decided to delay construction of the driveway until she could afford to build her home – and that was her biggest mistake.
When Liz bought an old backhoe in 1996 and finally began work on the driveway, she was cited for grading without a permit and issued a “stop work” order. Liz learned that Boulder County had changed the rules in 1993. The new regulation required landowners who move more than 500 cubic yards of dirt to go through a “Limited Impact Special Review” – a lengthy and expensive process which includes a public hearing before the Boulder County Commissioners.
Liz was about to enter the land use game but she was optimistic. She had overwhelming support from most of her neighbors. There was already an existing road following the contours of the mountainside most of the way to her home site which would need only modest improvements to work as her driveway. It would have no switchbacks or steep grades, and with some well-placed trees, retaining walls and proper drainage, the driveway would have little environmental impact.
The Fire Department approved the driveway that Liz planned.
The Boulder County Land Use Staff, however, insisted on a huge, prohibitively expensive driveway, strictly engineered to county road standards – even though the smaller drive, approved by the Fire Department, would be far more environmentally appropriate. Then, in the first of several Catch-22’s, Liz learned that the Open Space Department objected to the Land Use Department’s mandated driveway because it would severely scar the mountainside. In addition, nearby residents of the exclusive Sunshine Pointe development complained that Liz’s driveway would interfere with their view of Big Horn Mountain. They wouldn’t tolerate a driveway marring the scenery, despite the fact that the scenery is private property. The Land Use Department sided with the neighbors and recommended denial of the driveway – though, ironically, in yet another Catch-22, it approved the house! Liz could build her house but she would have to walk a mile in from Sunshine Canyon to access it.
Liz spent the last of her savings hiring a lawyer to represent her at a second hearing. Whipsawed by the Land Use bureaucracy, Liz nevertheless, persevered. She hired experts to address the issues of earth stability, erosion, wildlife mitigation and visual impacts. She offered solutions from culverts to fast-growing vegetation. No matter how hard Liz tried to comply with the County, she was thwarted because there was no agreement among the Land Use Staff, the Open Space Department, the Fire Department and the Commissioners. And not one of them made any effort to help Liz find alternatives so she could build her house.
The reason why no effort was made on Liz’s behalf became clear in statements made by the Land Use staff to a local reporter. The Land Use Department intended to prevent Liz from building on her property at all! The staff felt justified in taking this position in order to preserve this area in it’s “pristine condition” and prevent “the fragmentation of a plot of relatively undisturbed mountain land.” In effect, the County wanted Liz’s property for Open Space, but didn’t want to pay for it.
When it became clear that the Commissioners were going to deny Liz’s plan, she asked for a continuance so she could rethink her dilemma. That was two years ago.
Liz’s property remains landlocked – and all but worthless. She has spent thousands of dollars in legal and other fees trying to get approval for a driveway for which she has all the legal easements. Liz still owes her lawyers money from the last hearing and has no funds to hire the lawyers and experts she would need to get back in the game. And then there’s the next Catch-22: No bank will loan Liz the money to build her driveway unless she has a building permit – and she can’t get a building permit without an approved access road. In two recent “access” cases in Boulder County, property owners have prevailed – but it will ultimately cost those landowners more than $130,000 to defend their rights and build an approved road. Liz couldn’t hope to play with those stakes.
The County held all the winning cards. In the name of “growth control,” it pitted neighbor against neighbor, and Liz against the vast resources of the government. Boulder County never offered to buy Liz’s land in order to keep it pristine – it has simply acquired 18 acres of beautiful Open Space without paying Liz a penny for it. It seems that Liz has been “taken” by our public servants in a rigged game of, “We win, you lose.”
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
The Land Use Coalition, because of this case and hundreds of others in which arbitrary land use decisions have defeated a landowner’s plan to build, is working to reform the process. We believe that the County should encourage a variety of lifestyles and that if the County wants certain lands to remain “pristine,” it should pay the owner fair market value for it. It’s wrong to use building code regulations as a pretext for denying a landowner the right to build, when the real reason for shutting down a building project is to acquire Open Space without paying for it.
The Land Use Coalition is a diverse, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to open space, wildlife preservation and reasonable land use regulations while protecting citizens and their property rights in Boulder County. The LUC has influenced important statewide land use legislation and helped shape local land use regulations. The LUC is neither pro-development nor pro-growth.
This space was paid for by citizen donations to the Real People, Real Stories Committee of the Land Use Coalition in an effort to inform the public about the impact of land use issues on real people in the community. The story is printed with the permission of the landowner who has verified the facts to be true.
Do you have a story you'd like to tell? We invite and encourage your participation and support. For more information, call (303) 666-7903 or visit our website at http://landusecoalition.org.
<< Go BackFor more information contact the Land Use Coalition at info@landusecoalition.org or call 303-666-7903.
Last updated January 24, 2002.
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