Pitkin County planning commission backs rezoning of federal and state lands to 'Resource Government' zone

Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission members voted unanimously on July 15 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners rezone federal- and state-owned parcels across the county to the Resource Government (RSG) zone district.

Planning staff told the commission the county-initiated rezoning would apply to lands owned by federal and state agencies — including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado State Land Board — but would exclude Colorado Department of Transportation parcels and ski-area lands already covered by a separate Ski Rec zone. Staff described the rezoning as intended “to control the future use of lands currently owned by federal, state, or local [governments] used for nondevelopment purposes and to avoid inappropriate development of such lands in the event they are sold,” and said the change does not create development rights or transferable development rights for those properties.

The RSG district was written into Pitkin County’s land use code when…