To: Members of the Castle Rock Water Commission
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Title 4 (Annexation)
Town Council Agenda Date: May 1, 2018
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to update Castle Rock Water Commission on the proposed ordinance (see Attachment A) amending Chapter 4.04 of the Castle Rock Municipal Code requiring a plan to ensure renewable water resources at the time of annexation. Additional changes have been made to the proposed code section including addition of a time limit (December 31, 2020) on the exemption for existing annexation applications and infill annexations. Further, a section on verifiable dry up of irrigable land by a potential annexor as an option to meet the renewable water requirements has been added.
Castle Rock Water has been meeting with a subcommittee of the Economic Development Council (EDC) to work on options for potential annexors to meet the spirit and intent of the proposed code change. Two options have been identified. The first option is the concept of transferable development rights which would allow a potential annexor to purchase or otherwise acquire existing development rights from another developer with existing entitlements. This concept requires new code, and a draft of code that would provide the mechanism for this idea is included as Attachment B. This concept also would necessitate that there are some existing development entitlements that might be available for purchase or acquisition. Castle Rock Water has worked internally with our Development Services Department to review existing entitlements and update the long term commitments of the Town in terms of water service. This update does provide some indication that there may be some entitlements available for acquisition or even retirement through other means. A copy of the updated list and planning information is provided as Attachment C.
The second option is the concept of drying up existing irrigated land by allowing the annexor to pay for this dry up and create beautiful Coloradoscapes that do not use water or use limited water. There is more work to do on this idea, but the option has been incorporated into the draft code changes to Title 4 as discussed previously in this memo.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
On October 24, 2017, November 15, 2017 and December 7, 2017, staff presented these changes to the Developer’s Roundtable.
At the December 7, 2017, meeting of the developer’s roundtable, a subcommittee was formed with members of the Economic Development Council to study the proposed code change and identify options and tools for potential annexors. The first subcommittee meeting was held on January 10, 2018.
On February 21, 2018, an update on the progress of the EDC Subcommittee was provided at the Developer’s Roundtable.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
On September 27, 2017 and October 25, 2017, staff made presentations to the Castle Rock Water Commission. The Commission was very supportive of the proposed changes.
On November 7, 2017 a presentation was made to Council, and staff received direction to proceed with an ordinance.
On November 9, 2017, staff presented these proposed changes to the Planning Commission. Planning Commission was very supportive of the proposed changes.
On November 15, 2017, Castle Rock Water Commission recommended Council approve the proposed changes to Title 4.04 of the Code as presented by staff.
Budget Impact
There is no immediate budget impact associated with the proposed changes to Code, but there is likely a budget impact if actual commitments exceed the previously targeted 105,000 population which Attachment C indicates is a possible outcome based on current commitments.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends continuing the work with the EDC subcommittee. The next meeting to review the progress to date is on March 30th.
Attachments
Attachment A: Title 4.04 Draft Ordinance
Attachment B: Title 20 Draft Ordinance
Attachment C: Date on Existing Entitlements and Commitments