Lake County expands planning department, readies new comprehensive plan and impact-fee study

Anne Schneider, director of Community Planning and Development, told the Lake County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 27 that the county has reorganized building and land‑use services into a single Community Planning & Development (CPD) department and is moving several projects forward, including a joint city–county comprehensive plan, an impact‑fee study and an internal building‑inspector position to replace much third‑party plan review.

The reorganization, Schneider said, bundles zoning, building permits, code enforcement, on‑site wastewater plan review and long‑range planning under CPD. “We restructured the department to be community planning and development,” she said. She told commissioners the department now manages building permits and inspections for both the city of Leadville and Lake County under an intergovernmental agreement.

Why it matters: CPD’s work sets the rules that shape future development in Lake County — from subdivision approvals and building standards to where growth should be directed. The department’s immediate priorities could affect housing capacity, development costs and how much new development contributes financially to public infrastructure.

Staff highlighted three items the board will consider soon. First, CPD is starting a joint comprehensive‑plan process with the City of Leadville (the “1 Community Project”) to produce a shared long‑range plan covering land use, transportation, housing, recreation, natural resources and capital improvements. Second, the county has hired Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) to produce an impact‑fee (infrastructure‑nexus) study that will evaluate what fees, if any, new development could lawfully be charged to pay for roads, emergency services and housing infrastructure. Third, CPD proposes creating a county‑employed building inspector/plan reviewer rather than continuing to pay a third‑party vendor that currently receives roughly 75% of building‑permit revenue for plan review and inspection.

On building codes and contractors, Schneider said Lake County has used the International Code Council model codes and currently administers the 2018 ICC codes; the 2024 model codes are now available and staff plan to work with the county’s Board of Review (the construction industry advisory body) on adoption timing. The department also added a contractor registration requirement in 2022 that includes an ICC credential or building‑inspector credential and a $50 registration fee; staff emphasized the registration is intended to raise minimum standards for local contractors while keeping the cost low. Electrical permits remain handled by the state.

Budget and operations: staff presented preliminary budget figures showing a mix of revenues from land‑use fees, building permits and rental income from county‑owned Elm Street properties (approximately $86,000 in pass‑through rental income was cited as part of miscellaneous income). Schneider said third‑party fees for inspection and plan review consume a substantial share of permit revenue; CPD projected that adding a county FTE for inspection and plan review could have saved roughly $145,000 in a prior year scenario while reducing professional‑services costs going forward. Staff warned that those forecasts are preliminary and depend on seasonal workloads and occasional outside plan‑review help.

Planning process and community engagement: Schneider and other staff stressed the department’s emphasis on early developer pre‑application meetings that bring county utilities and service providers together (water, sanitation, public works, schools, emergency services) to surface constraints and expectations before formal submittals. Commissioners were told a DOLA (Colorado Department of Local Affairs) training on quasi‑judicial hearings and the county’s role as the decision‑maker is scheduled for Jan. 31.

Other initiatives noted included adding GIS/mapping capacity, expanding code enforcement with an educational approach, and making sanitation (on‑site wastewater systems) a CPD responsibility after it moved from public health. Schneider said CPD will regularly update incremental land‑use fees (small annual increases tied to a cost study) after decades without adjustments.

Staff identified several study areas that will move forward under CPD: an airport industrial park entitlement effort, a Mountain View corridor and northern‑corridor transportation study (including potential roundabouts and a bypass to redirect haul‑truck traffic out of downtown), and the sign moratorium review (the temporary restriction runs through March). The department also noted support for current housing projects, including work connected to a previously completed housing needs assessment and a DOLA planning‑capacity grant that will fund training and expedited review for affordable housing projects.

Ending: Commissioners were invited to direct constituents with land‑use questions to CPD staff; staff said written comments and materials can be accepted for pending land‑use hearings and that business cards for commissioners with contact guidance will be updated.