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Woodland Park planners prepare recommendation to annex city-owned Gold Hill Tank site
Summary
At a June 25 work session, Woodland Park planning staff told commissioners a small parcel with a water tank that the city already owns was never annexed into city limits; staff will recommend a public/semi-public zoning designation and council will consider related ordinances in mid-July.
Planning Director Karen Schmink told the Woodland Park Planning Commission on June 25 that a city-owned parcel known as the Gold Hill Tank site remains a county ‘island’ surrounded by Woodland Park and needs formal annexation.
"There is a piece of land owned by the city of Woodland Park, and it is completely surrounded by municipal boundaries," Schmink said, adding that the property has long functioned as part of the city's water infrastructure. She said the site will be proposed for a public/semi-public zoning designation when the annexation proceeds.
Schmink said state law tightly prescribes annexation procedures but provides a special path for municipally owned enclaves, which can move to the front of the process. She told commissioners the property has been city-owned since the 1980s and is ‘‘ripe for the city's continued use as part of our infrastructure,’’ not for development.
Staff outlined the schedule for the matter: the planning commission will take up a zoning recommendation at its July 9 meeting, the city council is expected to consider an annexation ordinance and zoning first reading on July 16, and a public hearing at council is scheduled for the council's first August meeting (noted by staff as August 5).
Schmink said staff has completed notice related to the zoning recommendation and has not yet received public opposition. She also said the utilities director sought the annexation to ease permitting for a new water tank project, describing frustration with county permitting in the current (nonannexed) status.
Why it matters: consolidating the parcel into Woodland Park and assigning a public/semi-public zone would move responsibility for permitting and zoning to the city, simplify utility project approvals and place the city’s water facility under the municipality’s land-use framework. The commission will make a recommendation on July 9 before the council hearings in mid-July.
