§ 4.2.1. Growth management area overlay zone district.

A.

Purpose. The purposes of growth management area overlay zone districts (GMA districts) are to:

1.

Designate areas in the county adjacent to a municipality's corporate limits where urban level development and annexation are appropriate, and where development may have an impact on present and future municipal growth patterns;

2.

Support a municipality's comprehensive plan within the GMA district;

3.

Protect the health, safety and welfare of county residents by providing land use regulations and standards that cause development to occur consistent with a municipality's comprehensive plan for its GMA district to the extent deemed feasible by the county in consultation with the municipality;

4.

Minimize urban services provided by the county by encouraging municipalities to annex land designated for urban uses and densities;

5.

Facilitate the annexation of lands that have developed in the GMA district while under county jurisdiction;

6.

Facilitate the annexation of lands that are eligible for annexation prior to the development of these lands;

7.

Implement the guiding principles and implementation strategies of the county master plan regarding urban and rural land uses;

8.

Establish county standards and criteria that are compatible with standards and criteria adopted by municipalities; and

9.

Implement intergovernmental agreements with municipalities regarding growth management.

B.

Establishment and amendment of district boundaries.

1.

In order to carry out the purposes of this section, the following zoning district classifications are established within Larimer County:

a.

The Fort Collins GMA district;

b.

The Loveland GMA district; and

c.

The Windsor GMA district.

The term "GMA district" shall mean whichever of the above districts is applicable given the location of the subject site.

2.

The boundaries of each GMA district are shown on the official zoning map adopted for Larimer County.

3.

The county commissioners may establish or enlarge a GMA district if the following review criteria are met:

a.

There is an intergovernmental agreement with the adjacent municipality pertaining to a growth management area and the GMA district is intended to implement the agreement;

b.

The area within the GMA district boundary is expected, by the parties, to be annexed within the time frame anticipated by the municipality's comprehensive plan;

c.

The municipality's comprehensive plan provides the county and property owners with clear guidance regarding the types and intensities of land uses intended for each parcel within the GMA district boundary;

d.

The area within the GMA district can and will be served with urban level services, including, but not limited to, public sewer, public water, urban streets and urban fire protection; and

e.

The review criteria for boundary or zone designation set forth in subsection 4.4.4(A) through (F) have been met.

4.

The county commissioners may exclude an area from an established GMA district boundary following consultation with the municipality if the county commissioners find that one or more of the review criteria in subsection B.3 above can no longer be met or that the municipality is not complying with the intergovernmental agreement.

C.

Applicability.

1.

The GMA districts are overlay zoning districts and shall be applied together with the underlying zoning district.

2.

The provisions of this subsection 4.2.1 will apply in each GMA district. Supplementary regulations to a GMA district, herein referred to as supplementary regulations may be adopted which will apply only to a particular GMA district or to a limited, defined geographical area within a particular GMA district.

3.

In the event of a conflict between the supplementary regulations, the provisions of subsection 4.2.1 or any other provisions of the land use code, the supplementary regulations shall prevail over the provisions of subsection 4.2.1 and the other provisions of the land use code; the provisions of subsection 4.2.1 shall prevail over the other provisions of the land use code.

D.

General requirements.

1.

Except as provided in subsection D.2 below or as otherwise permitted by the supplementary regulations, the county shall not accept any application for a rezoning (PD-planned development), special review or planned land division:

a.

For any property in a GMA district which has any contiguity to the municipal limits and, thus, can be made eligible for voluntary annexation, whether through a series of annexations or otherwise. Instead the owner of such property shall be required to seek annexation to the municipality; or

b.

For any property in a GMA district, which was part of a parcel eligible for annexation as of December 18, 2000, but which is no longer eligible because of subsequent land divisions resulting in a break in contiguity, except land divisions created by court order from probate, dissolution of marriage or eminent domain proceedings; or

c.

Where the municipality denies the petition for annexation because:

(1)

The property owner has included conditions or requirements in the petition which the county deems to be unreasonable or unduly burdensome; or

(2)

The property owner refuses to agree to conditions or requirements imposed by the municipality as a condition of annexation which the county deems to be reasonable.

2.

The county may accept applications for rezoning, special review or planned land division where:

a.

The subject parcel(s) has no contiguity to the municipal limits; or

b.

The municipality denies the petition for annexation for reasons other than those stated in subsection D.1.c(1) or (2) above; or

c.

The applicable supplementary regulations authorize the county to accept the application for rezoning, special review or planned land division.

d.

In lieu of a denial of annexation by the municipality, the county commissioners accept the written determination by the designated representative of the municipality that the subject property owner(s) need not apply for annexation.

3.

Any parcel within a GMA district may be used for any use which is designated a use allowed by right in the underlying zoning district. This does not apply to uses that involve land divisions, special review or any other decisions requiring discretionary review by the county commissioners.

4.

Uses allowed only by special review in the underlying zoning district may be approved only if such uses are consistent with the applicable supplementary regulations to a GMA district. If no applicable supplementary regulations have been adopted, the review criteria for special review shall apply (subsection 4.5.3). Supplementary regulations do not apply to commercial mobile radio service facilities (section 16).

5.

The underlying zoning of parcels within a GMA district may be rezoned only to the PD-planned development district. The PD-planned development rezoning application must specify the proposed land use types, densities and intensities.

6.

In order to approve a rezoning to PD-planned development, the county commissioners must find the proposed rezoning meets the review criteria in subsection 4.4.4 of this code, and that the proposed land use type, density and intensity are consistent with the applicable supplementary regulations, if any.

7.

The county shall not accept any applications for special exceptions in any GMA district.

8.

All divisions of land to create new lots in GMA districts shall be submitted and processed as planned land divisions (subsection 5.2), minor land divisions (subsection 5.4) or rural land plans (5.8). No division of land to create new lots in GMA districts through the planned land division process shall be approved unless the county commissioners have approved a rezoning of the land to PD-planned development pursuant to subsection 4.2.1.D.6 of this code.

9.

Prior to final approval of a rezoning, special review, site plan review (section 6), planned land division, minor land division or rural land plan, the property owner shall provide a binding agreement for annexation. The agreement shall be in a form approved by the county and shall include a power of attorney authorizing the city or town clerk to execute and file annexation petitions and maps, and shall state that the property owner agrees to submit to the applicable municipality a petition for voluntary annexation at such time as the property becomes eligible for annexation according to state annexation laws. Such agreement shall be signed by the owner of the property, shall run with the land and shall be recorded in the office of the clerk and recorder of Larimer County with a copy forwarded to the applicable municipality.

10.

The county shall submit, to the applicable municipality for review and comment, all proposals for rezoning, special review, minor land division, planned land division and rural land plan within the applicable GMA district. The county shall afford the municipality 21 days from the date of transmittal of the referral to provide written comments.

E.

Modifications of development standards required by supplementary regulations. Development standards in supplementary regulations to the GMA district may be modified if agreed upon in writing by the developer, county commissioners and the municipality. For proposed modifications not agreed to by the applicable municipality, the county commissioners may grant such modifications only in exceptional circumstances and only if they find that granting the modification will not be detrimental to the public good and that:

1.

By reason of exceptional physical conditions or other extraordinary and exceptional situations unique to such property, including, but not limited to, physical conditions, such as exceptional narrowness, shallowness or topography, the strict application of the standard sought to be modified would result in unusual and exceptional practical difficulties, or exceptional and undue hardship upon the owner of the affected property, provided such difficulties or hardship are not caused by the act or omission of the applicant; or

2.

The alternative plan, as submitted, will advance or protect the public interests and purposes of the standard for which modification is requested, equally well or better than a plan that complies with the standards for which modification is requested. In ascertaining the "public interests and purposes of the standards" the county commissioners shall give great weight to:

a.

The recommendation of the municipality;

b.

The specific language of the standard, taken in the context of the regulation in which the standard is contained and in the context of the applicable provisions of the municipality's comprehensive plan; and

c.

The willingness and agreement of the municipality to annex the subject area.

A modification shall be processed and reviewed concurrently with the development application to which it applies. A modification may be processed separately from such development application only if the county planning director in his/her sole discretion determines there is adequate information to allow the modification to be evaluated separately from the development application.

Applicants seeking a modification shall file a written request with the county planning director. The county planning director shall refer the application to the planning director of the municipality. The municipality shall provide a recommendation to the county within 21 days of receipt of the request. The Larimer County Planning Commission or other recommending board, per the applicable intergovernmental agreement, and the county commissioners shall hear the request in the public hearings set for the development application. If the county planning director has authorized the modification request to be processed separately from the development application, the applicable recommending board shall hear the request at the next available public hearing as determined by the planning director after receipt of the recommendation of the municipality, and the county commissioners shall hear the request at a public hearing no later than 21 days after receipt of the recommendation from the applicable recommending board.

At the hearing, the county commissioners shall consider relevant information presented by the applicant, the municipality and interested members of the public. Based on the information, the county commissioners may grant the modification or grant the modification with conditions in accordance with the criteria contained in this section or deny the modification.

If a modification is approved it shall be controlling for the successively, timely filed, development applications for that particular development proposal only to the extent that it modified the standard pertaining to such plan. All modifications which apply to a development plan which has not been filed at the time of the granting of the modification shall be valid for a period of time not to exceed one year following the determination of the county commissioners of the request for the proposed modification.

(Res. No. 04292003R005, 4-29-2003; Res. No. 09162003R012, § 2, 9-16-03; Res. No. 10052004R001, Exh. A, 10-5-2004)