La Plata staff: projects will be reviewed but not approved without water allocations; regulatory updates due in April

Town planning staff told the La Plata Planning Commission Dec. 3 that the town will continue to accept and process development applications during an ongoing shortage of water capacity, but will not grant preliminary or final approvals for projects that require water allocations until those allocations exist.

Celia Craze, a contract certified planner for the Town of La Plata, said that after reviewing existing practices “it has been determined that several practices have been inconsistent with written policy, town code, regulatory documents, and state law.” She said the town will therefore continue review of development applications even if water allocations are not available, but “if there are no water allocations, such development applications will not be approved.”

Craze told commissioners the intent is to protect property owners’ due‑process rights by preserving their place in the review pipeline while withholding approvals that depend on water capacity. She said extensions of prior approvals “will be granted in all reasonable circumstances to preserve the status quo of an applicant's development review process,” and that projects not requiring water allocations “will have no impact” from the new practice.

The staff presentation said the town is “working with the county” and plans to present updated regulatory measures for public review and comment by April. Commissioners asked whether applications would still come before the planning commission if water allocations were lacking; staff clarified that applications will proceed through the staff‑level development review process but “they will not come to the planning commission until they have water.”

No new code language, ordinance, or vote was recorded at the meeting; the statement was presented as staff practice and guidance to protect procedural rights while maintaining compliance with town regulatory documents and applicable state law.