An assistant county attorney told the Grand County Board of County Commissioners on July 22 that two Colorado statutes intended to enable county zoning enforcement are effectively unworkable in practice and asked the board to forward a memorandum and proposed statutory changes to Colorado Counties, Inc. for legislative consideration. The board voted to approve a letter, with commissioners’ signatures to be applied after review.

The attorney said CRS 30-28-124, which treats zoning violations as civil infractions, “is functionally impossible for county attorneys to comply with,” and that county attorneys around the state avoid using it. The memo recommends statutory changes and includes draft language prepared by the Boulder County attorney’s office. The attorney also described parallel problems with building-code enforcement statutes and other statutory schemes — such as noxious-weed civil-infraction provisions and on-site wastewater statutes — that were changed to civil infraction procedure but create implementation problems.

Why it matters: County attorneys told commissioners that the current statutory structure leaves counties with two bad options — a fast but unworkable civil-infraction route or a slower civil-court route with weaker remedies — and that the choice can allow deliberate noncompliance to be cheaper than remediation. Commissioners directed staff to finalize a cover letter and submit the memorandum to CCI for possible inclusion as a legislative priority, contingent on the county attorney’s final review.

The discussion included follow-up steps: the county attorney will reach out to Boulder County and Clear Creek County to confirm collaboration, draft a concise cover letter highlighting the statutory defects, and request CCI consider the topic for legislative action. Commissioners asked staff to produce a short, plain-language cover note for signatures, not a lengthy legal brief.

The board approved a motion authorizing submission of the letter and memo to CCI and allowing commissioners’ signatures after review.