The Montezuma County commissioners, at a sparsely attended meeting on Monday, approved four designations, as mapped, for the Landowner Initiated Zoning (LIZ).

Resolution 5-2000 defined general zoning locations on lots between 10 and 34 acres (AR 10-34); lots of 35 acres or more (AR 35+); lots designated A80 (agricultural), and acknowledged already existing zoning restrictions (ARES).

Landowners can still petition for preferences, however. A preference is designed for people who want to divide property into smaller tracts, for a higher density development, according to Planning Manager Karen Welch. These preferences include the AR 3-9+6 and R3 (residential only) designations, as well as industrial, commercial and urban services zones which require an infrastructure designed for heavier traffic flow.

If no zoning is selected, property will be considered as unzoned, and "we don’t do anything for the landowner," Welch said. "If they decide to develop later, they go through a public hearing." Once approved, the property owner would additionally go through the planning commission.

All preference zones will still require a public hearing in order to determine feasibility and suitability.

At the meeting, the commissioners decided to continue preference hearings until June 5. At this time, the criteria for zoning will be set.

"If people want to get in a zone, and it (their proposal) makes sense, they should be able to get in that zone. That’s the point," said Commissioner Gene Story.

County Administrator Tom Weaver contended that a consensus must, at some point, be reached, asking "Where do we draw the line?"

Planning and Mapping Department Specialist Loretta Murphy expressed concern that rigid zoning would leave those parcels without a declared zoning preference in a zone their owners might not want.

Story responded that "no blanket zoning" is planned, but board attorney Bob Slough asked how the commissioners intended to keep track of what preferences have been approved and what have not.

Because of these concerns, the board moved to set a public hearing for preferences at the above-stated date.

After the map had been approved, an audience member asked if the resolution was intended to supersede SB-35. In general, this 1972 legislation governs subdivision of land. According to the audience member, it stipulates that land sold in pieces greater than 35 acres does not have to go through a subdivision process, but remains a contract between individuals.

The commissioners maintained that the zoning came at the request of individual property owners. In 1994, citizens voted for a land use plan. A group of landowners and citizens collaborated to try to define what could be used for a zoning process. Most preferred that the county not designate for them, so it was suggested that the citizens themselves decide. The result was LIZ — Landowner Initiated Zoning. This sort of zoning is unique to Montezuma County.

Slough commented later that just because statutes may overlap, it does not necessarily create a conflict. He said that anyone wishing to challenge LIZ could certainly do so in court, and that if a challenge arose it would in fact be the court’s place to decide the dispute.

At the meeting, Slough and Story also made it clear that lands designated A80 could still be further subdivided. Story said that the public always had a choice, and that some sought the designation of A80 just to have it on record as being zoned for agriculture in order to avoid future conflicts with neighbors.

Once zoning is established, Slough explained, it is difficult to change, and "that’s why it’s critical that people get zoned how they want. For the ones who have zoned, it shouldn’t be easy to change."

The one exception is for those who may wish to change an A80 designation to AR35+, which is "explicitly written into the code as an easy path," according to Deputy District Attorney Mike Preston.