Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Woodland Park adds water-availability criteria to land-use approvals with Ordinance 1495
Summary
The City Council adopted Ordinance 1495 to require explicit consideration of water connection and availability for rezoning, subdivision and similar land-use applications.
The Woodland Park City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 1495 on April 17, adding explicit criteria requiring city approval that a water source is sufficient for proposed uses when reviewing rezoning, subdivision, planned-unit development amendments, conditional-use permits and similar land-use applications.
Planning staff presented the ordinance as a bridging measure to ensure water availability is considered more broadly during land-use decisions while the city evaluates more detailed regulation of commercial water uses. Planning staff said the city's existing tap-management rules are tightly controlled and that the ordinance places an additional, clear criterion in multiple application types requiring demonstration that water supply is sufficient to serve proposed uses and structures.
The ordinance was reviewed by the Planning Commission and the Utility Advisory Committee; planning commissioners recommended adding the clear water-availability criterion to each applicable application type. Councilors voted unanimously in favor.
City staff said more detailed restrictions on commercial water use would require additional study and resources; Ordinance 1495 is intended to make water availability a visible and required part of the land-use review process going forward.
