Town of Frederick adopts land-use amendments for oil and gas, rescinds moratorium

The Town of Frederick Board of Trustees on a 6–0 vote adopted Ordinance 1,400, a package of land-use code amendments governing oil and gas drilling and production and rescinded ordinance 13 92, the temporary moratorium. The board opened the item as a continued public hearing and heard presentations from town staff and the town’s special counsel before taking the final vote.

Town special counsel Matt Metzger summarized the changes staff made after industry and referral comments. Among the edits, the ordinance clarifies required plugging-and-abandonment documentation (the town will require an ECMC well abandonment report), allows wells plugged within the last five years and fully improved by ECMC to qualify for a reduced 50-by-100-foot setback, and adopts language from United Power on electrical equipment standards. Staff also removed duplicative water reporting that the state already requires and allowed temporary on-site tanks for the first year of production so long as the tanks are not used for production. On air quality the ordinance shortens required repair time for detected gas leaks from five working days under existing Air Quality Control Commission Reg 7 to three calendar days, the counsel said.

Steve Gerber, speaking for Life Fellowship Church, urged clarity on how the ordinance treats abandoned wells on his property. Gerber said three of the church’s four wells would meet the new five-year plugged-and-improved criteria for a reduced setback but that the fourth well’s eligibility remains vague. “The correspondence I’ve received from Ali, my discussions with Matt and Ali have left me with a comfort level that I believe will allow for the reduced setback with minimal effort,” Gerber said, while also urging additional specificity for older wells.

Metzger responded that the ordinance provides incentives (the closer setback) rather than a town mandate to replug wells not meeting today’s standards, and that the application forms the town will create after adoption will include the specificity Life Fellowship requested. He said the town can update those forms administratively as industry practices evolve.

Board members asked staff about implementation burdens; staff noted the town has had only one new well permit during the current staff tenure and said the town is hiring an oil-and-gas liaison whose role is to manage intake and technical review. Staff said technical reviews triggered by applications or permit amendments would be paid for by the applicant, including any consultant fees for niche issues such as noise or lighting plans.

With no further public comment, Trustee (speaker id 6) moved to adopt Ordinance 1,400 and rescind ordinance 13 92; the motion was seconded and passed 6–0.

What happens next: The ordinance as adopted includes administrative forms and standards that staff said will be finalized in the coming months and can be updated without a new ordinance to reflect changing technical requirements.