This past year, I received an offer to purchase my business – Hunter’s Run Golf Course. The agreement was that I would retain the house and three acres, and the buyer would take possession of the golf course. To divide the parcel – known as a boundary adjustment with no change in density or services – one must receive approval from the La Plata County Planning Department.
After having the house lot surveyed and favorable approval from the six or seven governmental agencies, I went to the department for closure. This was a mere beginning. The department directed me to install a new engineered sewage system. Also, I was to provide surveyed plats of all improvements to the property since I purchased it 40 years ago.
A sample of the plats would include: single and three-phase power distribution (four electric meters), driveway and parking lot surveys, golf course irrigation system with 1.5 miles of buried pipe, considerable excavation to build golf greens and tees with four million gallons of pond storage, three buildings with potable water and sewer lines, and the planting of 150 trees.
Four months later, I received a call from the department director. He told me the department would be willing to drop some of the requirements. No specifics were mentioned. I asked him for a cost estimate to complete the subdivision boundary adjustment. He refused to answer.
Dealing with the La Plata County Planning Department represents a departure from cultural norms. You, the taxpayer, are obligated to prove your project meets the subjective department rules, and the rules appear from nowhere. If you create the wealth, the department will eagerly participate in the consumption of your wealth. This is a classic example of the host-parasite relationship.
Robert Hardaway
Oxford
