The Montezuma County planning staff is moving forward with plans to zone the county after a series of eight community meetings held over the past year.
County planning department Director Susan Carver and planning commission Chairman Tim Hunter held a meeting at the county annex Thursday night to present a summary of the community meetings to the public and offer a glimpse at the zoning plan, which will be presented to the board of county commissioners within the next few months.
In 2009 the planning commission was taxed with reviewing the county land use plan to see if it still met the needs of the county, Hunter said, addressing a crowd of 14 individuals, including every member of the county planning commission. We discovered that people were pretty much OK with the comprehensive land use plan as it exists because it embraces the rural character of the county. However, people were concerned that Montezuma County lacks predictability specifically related to commercial/industrial uses.
Hunter said the board of county commissioners asked the planning department to come up with a proposal to zone the county, with particular attention to potential areas of commercial/industrial development.
What we propose to do is overall zoning of the county with specific commercial/industrial zones in each of the populous areas, Hunter said.
The plan incorporates commercial/industrial overlays, a one-mile zone of influence around each population center, including Cortez, Dolores, the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park, Lewis, Arriola, Yellow Jacket and Pleasant View.
We are looking at overlays within a quarter mile of the highway, Hunter said. We are proposing those would be places that would be appropriate for commercial/industrial growth in the county.
Two communities, Summit Lake and the town of Mancos, asked to be withheld from the plan, citing a lack of interest in business in their area or a desire on the part of the community to limit industrial use.
The Mancos proposed master plan does not include commercial/industrial growth, Carver said. There is nothing that would allow for that, so they dont want the county superseding their plan.
The overlays, often called string-of-pearls planning, would not provide guaranteed zoning to potential commercial/industrial growth, but would provide predictability, and possible incentives, to those looking to move businesses into the county.
Hunter and Carver said numerous businesses and industries have passed up opportunities to move into Montezuma County due to uncertainty in zoning, large permitting fees and a slow application process.
We want to encourage growth in our county but in specific areas, Hunter said. It is not viable or responsible to keep exporting businesses. We do want to maintain the rural and agricultural atmosphere of our county, but we need responsible planning strategies to provide more predictability and give people more use-by-right through zoning. We are looking at enhancing our economic growth, hopefully.
Both Hunter and Carver cautioned that potential businesses and industries would still need to go through the existing planning process, including the high impact permit and special use permit process.
Community support for the zoning process has been impressive, Carver said. Nearly 80 percent of all responses the county has received via public meetings, surveys and drop-in visits at the planning office are in favor or county zoning.
We probably get three or four call a day and three or four people dropping by the office a day to discuss the plan, Carver said. The vast majority are very supportive of what we want to do and the reasons behind the plan.
Along with the commercial/industrial overlays, a few changes are proposed to the land use code, including altered zoning categories, such as lowering the acreage required for agricultural zoning from 35 to 20 acres, and new definitions of commercial and industrial use.
The definition of commercial use will be expanded to include the sale, rental, service and distribution of goods and the provision of services other than those classified under other use types, specifically those identified solely for residential, agricultural, and light and heavy industrial use. Industrial use will be divided into two categories, light and heavy, to better clarify land use.
We feel those definitions will help in the planning process and will make the process more individualized, not just grouping all users together, Carver said.
County residents will receive letters from the planning department explaining the new zoning process. Property owners will have an opportunity to interact with Carver on the zoning determination for their property.
Hunter and Carver clarified that the assessors property classifications are based on use and not zoning. The county zoning plan will not impact property taxes.
Carver said the next step will be to present the plan to the county commissioners at the end of October or beginning of November. The public will have an opportunity at that meeting to share their support or concerns regarding the plan.
I highly encourage public participation, Carer said. If you want your voices to be heard, you need to be at the hearing. It is a great opportunity to have a voice if you feel you werent properly represented in the planning process.
Information regarding the county zoning plan is available on the planning departments website, www.co.montezuma.co.us/newsite/planninghome.html.
For more information, contact Carver at 565-2801.
Reach Kimberly Benedict at kimberlyb@cortezjournal.com.