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First reading: Pitkin County rezoning to place federal and Colorado state lands in Resource Government zone; State Land Board lodged objection
Summary
Pitkin County held a first reading on an ordinance to rezone federal and Colorado state lands to a Resource Government (RSG) zone district and set a public hearing for Aug. 13; the Colorado State Land Board lodged an objection to including state parcels.
Pitkin County commissioners on first reading approved a county‑initiated rezoning that would map lands owned by the federal government or the State of Colorado into the Resource Government (RSG) zone district, and set a second reading and public hearing for Aug. 13.
Community Development Director Suzanne Wolf told the board the RSG district was created in 2006 but not applied; board direction asked staff to rezone government‑owned lands to RSG to align zoning with the lands’ current public‑resource uses and to avoid inappropriate development if land ownership changes. Wolf said roughly 85% of the county is federal or state land (the majority federal); she noted about 814 acres of state land (excluding CDOT) would be affected, concentrated in areas such as Snowmass Creek and Williams Hill.
Wolf said the change does not alter how federal or state agencies manage lands while in public ownership, but it does specify that if parcels enter private ownership they would carry the RSG zoning and would not have automatic residential development rights. The zoning action removes the parcel’s prior local zoning and replaces it with RSG; future development proposals would still be processed under county code and master plan criteria.
The Colorado State Land Board submitted a written objection and requested exclusion of state parcels from the rezoning; staff said they will consult further with the State Land Board before second reading and offered the board options including limited code amendments or carving out specific parcels if concerns persist.
Commissioners and staff discussed special review uses allowed under RSG (timber harvest, mineral extraction, grazing) and whether federal preemption could limit local regulation in some scenarios. Staff said many resource uses would continue to be permitted by federal or state permitting processes; commissioners asked staff to include the RSG allowed‑uses table in the next packet and to meet with the State Land Board ahead of second reading.
