Montrose County delays vote on power-generation zoning changes after public feedback

Montrose County commissioners opened a public hearing on proposed amendments to zoning regulations for power generation facilities and voted to continue the matter to Dec. 11 to allow additional public comment.

Planning staff presented a draft that would create an explicit definition for battery energy storage systems and place them in a use table as allowable by special use in agricultural and general industrial districts rather than treating them as public utility facilities allowed by right. Staff also proposed requiring applicants within 3 miles of the county airport to submit FAA Form 7460-1 and any other FAA reports, adding clarified dust-mitigation language (explicitly allowing magnesium chloride for stabilizing access roads), specifying restoration/revegetation requirements for disturbed areas, and changing decommissioning-plan amendment authority from the planning director to the Board of County Commissioners at the board’s request.

On revegetation staff initially proposed that disturbed areas be restored and revegetated "within 30 days of completion of work that caused the disturbance." Commissioners questioned whether 30 days is realistic for active construction and discussed tying restoration timing to approved environmental protection plans; staff said the requirement could be rephrased so restoration occurs per the approved plans with board case-by-case discretion.

Staff said Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Montrose office expects a short pre-conference site meeting and a brief letter, with subsequent review of detailed proposals; staff characterized CPW's review timeline as a few days to one or two weeks depending on availability and said there would be no cost to the developer for that pre-conference. Staff also reported receiving a helpful organizational comment from DMEA about phrasing in the power-line section.

Public commenters urged both caution and flexibility. Resident Tony Hogue questioned acreage limits on prime irrigated farmland for agrivoltaics, saying recent studies suggest agrivoltaics can enhance ground productivity and that Montrose's 30/50-acre thresholds merit reconsideration. Amanda Clements told the board the draft strikes a fair balance between protecting neighbors and allowing renewable development. Jennifer Jones recommended following CASA recommendations and noted Mesa County's land-use code as a useful model.

Because one commissioner (Keith Caddy) was absent, and staff had received written comments that commissioners wanted time to review, a commissioner moved to continue consideration of the zoning code amendments to the December 11 meeting and to keep public comment open until that date; the motion passed by voice vote. The moratorium on such developments ends January 10, staff noted. The board closed the hearing portion of the meeting and adjourned.