In 1972, when the state passed a law saying one home could be built on a 35-acre parcel without any county land-use review, the state thought this would preserve county land.
It was an innovative idea at the time, but that was 25 years ago, when land was much cheaper and developers were not gobbling up every square inch of agricultural land.
After taking a long look at what has occurred over the last 25 years, the state decided, with the input from counties, that ranches and farms divided into 35-acre parcels with a home plunked in the center of each parcel was in fact, poor land management in most cases.
The state developed a new plan using the input from water and environmental experts as well as planners and county officials. Last June, House Bill 1364, known as the cluster housing bill, was passed.
It stated that it would be favorable to cluster houses together, and it offered incentives if the home owners would meet certain criteria.
This bill allowed home owners to build up to two houses on 35 acres, provided that the home owners would cluster the homes together, limit water use to avoid greater impact on the land and place two-thirds of the land in some type of trust to preserve open space and agricultural lands.
Larimer County, which has very little land in trusts, decided to use this opportunity to preserve land in the county.
In July 1995, the Larimer County commissioners created a 35-Acre Task Force to set guidelines for developing land in the county and preserving open space under the new state law.
The eight-member task force is a group of volunteers with backgrounds in water resources, rural land use, planning and development in Larimer County.
This group, as well as a paid director, was chosen by the county commissioners. Recommendations from the task force were presented to the commissioners in December.
It was recommended that the task force become the Rural Land Use Center as a permanent version of the task force continuing the same work and using the guidelines the task force set up.
In Larimer County, there are 4,633 parcels of private, taxable land greater than 35 acres for a total of 522,042 acres. The task force recommendations did not include a change on zoning for those lands, nor did they propose taking away the ability to do the 35-acre development.
Instead, they recommended incentives to encourage alternative developments to help retain the rural and agricultural lands of Larimer County.
“We even lobbied for this bill (cluster housing bill) in the state,´ said Wendell Amos, a task-force member from Estes Park.
Amos is the current chair of the Larimer County Planning Commission. “We (the task force) are all for it – it allows for the augmentation of conserving water and conservation easements.
“The main objective here is to protect the conservation easements and to prevent development on these lands and to protect ranch lands in those areas,” he added.
The idea of creating a whole new concept in land preservation and development was very exciting to a group of people who wanted to try out the newprocess. The group of seven friends wants to build seven homes on 176 acres, five miles northwest of Lyons in Larimer County.
Known as the Geneva Community Project, the land owners plan to cluster their houses 500 feet from the Little Thompson River. Each house would be on a 3-acre parcel, and a common barn and clubhouse would be clustered near the houses.
The remaining 155 acres would be designated as open space and placed in a conservation easement with the Larimer Land Trust. The land would remain protected for perpetuity.
“There is no developer for this project except us,´ said Buzz Burrell, manager of the Geneva Project. “The seven of us are all friends, and we want to build homes for ourselves on that land. This is a whole new concept. Currently, you can put one house on 35 acres without asking anyone, or you can put one house on 10 acres if you subdivide and go through the whole PUD (planned unit development) process which is very difficult. But neither of these encourages good development.”
Burrell is working with the task force on well permits and the conservation easement.
“The county is really behind this process and behind us, and they think we can really improve the quality of life. We have a group that is trying to create a common vision. This is the only way it can work. It is not a single person’s idea, it is egalitarian. Our group has a consensus for our community.”
The Geneva Project is one of four test cases the task force was authorized by the commissioners to work through the process. One of those projects, Sedona Hills, dropped out after pressure from neighbors who wanted to continue the one home per 35-acre rule.
“Sedona withdrew because of opposition,´ said Ed Zdenek, director of the task force. “But subsequently neighbors came back to me to see what they could do – and so we lost all that land for open space.”
One of the drawbacks the task force has been facing is educating the public and especially the neighbors of the groups doing the cluster housing projects.
Often, neighbors don’t realize the preservation aspects of these projects. Burrell also faced some opposition to the Geneva Project last November when residents gathered for a public hearing on the project. Residents were concerned about the land to be held in trust and wondered what would happen if the homeowners sold their land.
David Armstrong, a University of Colorado professor working for the Larimer Land Trust, has had to explain that when lands are held by trusts in perpetuity, that means until the end of time.
“Land trusts are nonprofit groups whose mission is to preserve the nature of the land,” he said. “The Larimer Land Trust preserves the natural values and natural habitats of the land.”
A second issue facing the task force is that the Rural Land Use Center has been approved by the county commissioners, and the commissioners are in the process of approving the board members. Most of the task force members have applied to be on the Land Use Center’s board as well as about 60 other people.
Ed Zdenek is the interim director of the Rural Land Use Center, which is still officially the 35-Acre Task Force. The three test projects are trying to work with the task force, but they may have new members to deal with soon, which would require time to bring everyone up to speed.
The commissioners have narrowed the selection down to 22 candidates, with permanent members expected to be chosen in early February.
The goals and objectives will carry over from the task force to the Rural Land Use Center board.
“The goals and objectives will be the same,´ said Amos, who has applied to be on the new board. “We were concerned that to make this center work these ideas that we have promulgated be carried forth. They might choose a new direction. It could be that people who are chosen might have their own agenda.
“The goals and objectives are very important and very carefully thought through,” Amos added. “This task force was so unified in its thinking. This task force has worked together in an exceptional manner. It is something like I’ve never seen before, and we come from very diverse backgrounds.”
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