Residents, property owners urge Chaffee County to revise new land-use code

Several residents and a members'organized survey group pressed the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners on April 15 to reopen and revise the county's new land-use code, saying the rules sharply reduce homebuilding options and depressed property values for private landowners.

The comments came during the public-comment period. Blaine Clark, a county resident, said the code has replaced the county's earlier rural and recreation designations with new categories such as Ag/Ranch/Conservation/Recreation (PCR), and that change has left some landowners unable to build homes they had previously planned. "The new code has failed: instead of preserving property value, it plunges it," Clark said.

Community members said the new code limits lot yields and increases permitting costs. Mark Koslik, who identified himself as a landowner and community volunteer, urged the commissioners to create an incremental public review process so residents could submit targeted fixes rather than reworking the entire code at once. "Take bite-sized sections of the code, review them, get public comment," Koslik said.

Tom McCracken, who described organizing a citizen survey through a local LLC, told commissioners his group sent more than 5,000 survey prompts and received about 450 replies. McCracken said respondents repeatedly cited inadequate communication, concern about "government overreach," and new minimum lot sizes that they view as restrictive. He said the survey respondents want either a significant revision or a repeal of the new code.

A separate speaker who said he had repeatedly tried to satisfy planning staff asked the board to place his application on a future agenda so the county could issue a formal decision or provide clearer, written requirements. County staff responded in session that they are still in the process of reviewing applications and encouraged submitters to provide written examples and files to help planning staff identify specific code problems.

Why it matters: Commissioners said earlier they expected to continue public review and that the county will share processes for submitting examples and evidence. Several speakers asked for an incremental, transparent review to avoid the perception that a single public-comment period satisfied community input.

The board did not take a formal action on the land-use code during the meeting; public comments were recorded for the record and staff said they will continue outreach and report back to the board.