Image: Artist rendering of the proposed Archuleta County transportation facility.
We have here another installment, in the continuing saga of land use disagreements between the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners and the Town of Pagosa Springs.
Any folks who may have attempted to build a legal structure here in Pagosa Springs — as opposed to an illegal structure — are probably aware that our community has two different Planning Departments, depending on whether your property is located within the municipal limits… or outside those boundaries, in the unincorporated county.
The land use regulations for these two governments are similar in many ways, but significant differences do exist. One such difference was the subject of an apparent land use conflict discussed at the February 6 BOCC work session.
The properties located within the 21-square mile Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association boundaries have an additional layer of land use regulations to deal with. Ditto, the property owners within several other property owners associations. This particular conflict did not involve a property owners association; rather, it involved two (sovereign?) government entities.
We are listening, here, to Archuleta County Manager Derek Woodman on February 6.
“One thing we learn of, last week, is that… the building permit for the transit facility was issued by the Town last summer, and we thought construction was going to begin, end of summer, so it was appropriately applied for, and provided.
“That building permit was good for six months, if there’s no activity. There was no activity, so that building permit expired on January 7. The permit also had the incorrect contractor, so [County Transit Director] Kevin Bruce was reaching out the the Town, to get the correct contractor put on the new permit, and get it reissued.
“The Town denied it, and wouldn’t issue a building permit for the transit facility.”
A bit of background. The County’s Mountain Express Transit (MET) buses serve mainly older residents, and low-income residents, through downtown and the uptown commercial areas. For the past decade or so, the department has been operating out of Nick’s Hanger, off Piedra Road at the south end of the County airport, but the County recently received a couple of large grants worth about $4 million, to build a transit facility near the Sheriff’s Office in Harman Park. The grants have deadlines attached, and the County must begin construction during 2024 or lose the funding.
Manager Woodman:
“The denial was exclusively based on a rumor — 100% rumor — that the County was not going to comply with the Town’s Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) that we screen the mechanical appurtenances on the roof. The screening is in the building plans; it’s there. We’ve already reached out to the contractor to solicit estimates of what the price is going to be. It was listed in the building plans as an ‘alternate’. There were a couple of items listed as ‘alternates’, and two of them, we’ve been moving forward with all along…”
County Attorney Todd Weaver weighed in.
“Just to add. Mechanical screening is not required by the Building Code…”
Attorney Weaver is here referring to the International Building Code, adopted independently by the Town and County to guide the design and construction of commercial and public buildings.
“…and the Building Code is what you base a building permit on. The Land Use Code is a completely separate code, not even relevant to the Building Code.”
The Town LUDC, in its most recent revision, requires mechanical devices on rooftops to be screened from public view… within the town limits.
The County has no such requirement. But the transit facility is located within the town limits. I discussed this controversy a few weeks ago here in the Daily Post, regarding the ‘mechanical screening’ conflict between the Town and County around promised but never completed screening atop the new County Courthouse in Harman Park.
Manager Woodman:
“And presently, the Town is requiring that we put in writing a commitment to include screening. I told them we’re not going to do that. That, once we get the estimates back on the screening which is in the building plans, we are planning on moving forward with it — the contractor can get the change order, and that takes place — but no one is going to do anything [to begin construction] without a building permit. So it puts the contractor, certainly, in a tough place.
“And I did bring up the fact, with the Town… I said, ‘You know, this is very similar in concept to what is taking place with PAWSD [Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District].’
“PAWSD is building a new water treatment plant out on Snowball Road. PAWSD is a special district — a taxing entity — and what the County is doing with PAWSD is… nothing.”
County Commissioner Ronnie Maez:
“Because PAWSD is exempt.”
What Commissioner Maez and Manager Woodman are claiming here, is that PAWSD, as an independent government entity, is not subject to Archuleta County Land Use Regulations. (The Snowball project is happening outside the Town limits, within the unincorporated county.) This assumption of governmental independence and sovereignty — an idea reinforced by County Attorney Todd Weaver — is apparently based on the Colorado Revised Statutes.
(Disclosure: I current serve as an elected, volunteer member of the PAWSD Board of Directors, but this editorial reflects only my own opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of the PAWSD Board as a whole.)
“PAWSD came in and began the [County] building permit process, and were immediately told, ‘You’re a special district. You don’t have to adhere to the County’s Land Use Regulations and you don’t need a building permit. Go build your building.’ And they are in the process of doing that. There are no fees being charged.”
“And I brought that up, because the Town did say they were waiving fees for the transit facility, to the tune of about $21,000. They were waiving their building permit and plan review fees.
“But it’s like, we’re walking the walk, and we’re doing what we say we’re supposed to be doing, and what we wish the Town were doing…”
Then Commissioner Veronica Medina spoke up, to share her perspective of the conflict with the Town Planning Department.