Ask the Planning Director 5 - Planning and Zoning

Ask Planning and Zoning page 5

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Q I understand that front setbacks in unicorporated Jefferson County are 50 feet. If there is a road easment for a private road that takes up the first 25 feet, does that mean the front setback moves to 75 feet? Or, do you start the 50 feet from the property line, or the easement line?

A We often face this issue at the time of building permit review. In fact, we deal with this issue on many properties where an access easement encumbers the property that we have established rules for measuring setbacks as identified in Section 2 of the Jefferson County Zoning Resolution (Section 2.D.1.g.(1) and (2)). By the way, setbacks vary depending on which zone district encumbers a property, so please make sure you check with us first to determine the setback standards for your property.

If the road easement serves four (4) or more home sites, then we will subtract out the area of the easement affecting the property and measure the setback from the edge of the easement and not from the property line. That means that if this scenario exists for your property, we must consider setbacks at 75 feet as described in your scenario. Why does this occur? We do this, because these easement essentially functions as a public road, even though we do not maintain it, the affect it has on vehicle movement means that setback distances should be sufficient to accommodate the impact of travel along the road easement.

Can relief be sought from this requirement? The County can discuss with you the possibility of a variance from the setback standard as it relates to the road easement. I would suggest you come into our offices and speak with us directly on how this might occur.

Q I live off of Highway 73 in Conifer, Colorado. I wanted to sell my home and a realtor brought me a map showing my residence as just that - a residence. My home is commercial or could be used for business as I understood it. The home adjacent to me was once my home as well, and I was also told that that home could be used as commercial property. That property as well as mine and a smaller one that lies right on Highway 73 were once all owned by the same person. I guess my question is, if all these properties were once owned by the same person, why are they now zoned differently, according to this realtor?

A Thank you for your inquiry. Let me try and provide some assistance to you. According to our zoning maps on file in the County, your property has a zoning designation of SR-1 (Suburban Residential-One) which allows for residential uses only. The property adjacent to yours and closest to County Highway 73 also is zoned SR-1. In fact the surrounding properties and associated zoning in the area either allow residential uses or agricultural uses, but nothing has been zoned for commercial activity. It appears that your realtor has provided you with correct information on your property.

Given these facts, I would caution you that if you have a commercial business, it would not be incompliance with the uses allowed in the SR-1 zone district. As to the question regarding how property owned at one time by the same persone can now be zoned differently, I will tell you that this occurs a lot. We have many situations where property held under single ownership is sold off and subsequently rezoned to different zone district classifications.

I would also recommend that if you wish to use your property for commercial activity, we discuss this further at the Planning & Zoning Division office where we can provide input to you on rezoning your property and the steps involved in that process.

Q Our HOA filed our "Original Development Plan" (ODP) with Jefferson County in about 1972 and I was wondering who enforces these rules/regulations? Does the county get involved in the enforcement process for the ODP's?

A The County enforces the provisions of the "Official Development Plan" or ODP if it has been recorded and exists within unincorporated Jefferson County. The Official Development Plan corresponds with a zoning designation of PD or Planned Development. The PD essentially establishes all development standards including, permitted uses, setbacks, height limitations, signs, fencing, architecture and so forth. The ODP may also contain provisions specific to the site, including limitations on parking of vehicles, storage structures, fence locations and so forth.

Unless the ODP contains provisions that can be shown as discriminatory or illegal, based on established law, we enforce the standards within the ODP. To contact us about a possible violation within the ODP standards for your development, please feel free to reach us at 303-271-8726.

Q How do you handle the storage PODS/Semi Trailers that seems to be appearing in the rural areas for storage ? Do you allow them?? Do you require a permit for them?

A Temporary trailers and storage units must be approved through an administrative process, unless the specific zone district allows storage as a permitted use or accessory use to a primary activity. If permitted, the storage structure must receive a Miscellaneous Permit or must be screened in compliance with individual zone district standards. Our administrative review occurs through the Administrative Exception process found in our Zoning Resolution. Specific details on this process can be found in Section 3 of that document.

If the Administrative Exception is approved, we can specify a time limit for the temporary storage and it may be renewed for a limited period of time.

Semi-trailers in rural areas, often associated with our agricultural zone districts are generally not permitted and cannot be approved through an Administrative Exception process. In those instances, if reported to the County, we will take action to have them removed by the property owner through a zoning violation procedure. The new storage PODS often are placed on a property for a short period of time. We have not had to permit those temporary storage units, as they are quickly removed to an off-site location and do not remain on property for an indefinite period of time. If they remain indefinetly and we receive a complaint about them, we can investigate and issue a zoning violation if necessary or require that an Administrative Exception be approved to allow the temporary storage unit.

Q Would a bed and breakfast, which is also a residence, with six rentable rooms qualify as a home occupation? Also, would serving occasional evening meals as part of the room charge affect zoning?

A A bed and breakfast cannot be considered a home occupation. This type of activity must either be approved through a change in zoning or by Special Use review. The change of zoning requires that a property be rezoned to a zone district category or Planned Development (PD) zone district that specifies the ability to have a bed and breakfast operation. In some of our agricultural zone districts, we do allow for bed and breakfast facilities to be reviewed as a Special Use. A Special Use can be described as a use generally allowed in a zone district, provided it receives approval through a public hearing process involving the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. Standards applicable to the use, such as hours of operation, number of guests and so forth, must be incorporated into the Special Use review.

Serving meals or not serving meals does not affect the ability to have or not have a bed and breakfast activity. To learn more about what steps you would need to follow, please contact us directly at 303-271-8700. We can then provide you with more details and explanations on county processes.

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Last Modified: Mar 28, 2009 10:17 PM