La Plata County commissioners held a public workshop this week to discuss changes to the draft of Chapter 90, the section of the land-use code that regulates the gas and oil industry. Their conversation included consideration of a recommendation from the Planning Commission that the board reconsider whether the regulations are even necessary.
The Planning Commission voted on March 23 to recommend the Board of County Commissioners approve the second draft of the chapter but added eight recommendations.
Six of those recommendations addressed the required setbacks – the distance that gas and oil wells must sit from other infrastructure – which some planning commissioners felt were too stringent. One recommendation requested a change in the code to ensure major permits for gas and oil projects go to the Planning Commission for approval and then the BoCC, rather than a single stop at the latter body. Another asked the BoCC to consider “whether the setbacks go beyond the type of regulations that are reasonable and necessary.”
County commissioners entertained the idea of deferring to state guidelines briefly, taking the time to discuss the implications. But Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton did not mince words on the matter.
“This is a nonstarter for me,” she said. “... I am not willing to go back in time.”
Planning Commissioner Charly Minkler, one of the most vocal supporters of the recommendation, was present at Tuesday’s work session.
“I’m not surprised – and that’s why we had the other recommendations, assuming that wasn’t going to fly,” Minkler said of the board’s response.
As drafted, the default setback from most buildings would be 2,000 feet. But if building occupants give informed consent, wells can be drilled closer. How close, however, is a question at hand.
As currently drafted, the county would not allow wells to be drilled any closer than 500 feet to any commercial, industrial or residential buildings or property lines, even with informed consent. New buildings would also have to be sited 500 feet from existing wells. But commissioners on Tuesday indicated support for softening that hard setback regulation in the third draft of the chapter.
Private landowners, industry representatives and at least two planning commissioners have expressed that an absolute minimum setback of 500 feet is too great, especially for so-called “reciprocal setbacks,” which regulate where buildings can by constructed in relation to existing wells.
The area within a 500-foot setback would render 18 acres around each well undevelopable.
Porter-Norton suggested a revision that allow for a 400-foot setback in some cases. The reduction would shrink the “no-build zone” within a setback area to 11.5 acres. She made the case that this 36% reduction in undevelopable land with just a 20% reduction in setback distance would be a reasonable revision.
Some version of a 400-foot minimum setback is likely to appear in version three of the draft, although the exact application of the exception remains unclear.
“I am willing to go lower; what that lower is, is up for debate,” Porter-Norton said.
The board engaged in a lengthy discussion with county staff regarding potential ways to revise the code, including having different setbacks depending on density or land use. The board also indicated it would like to hear once again from environmentalists and representatives of the gas and oil industry, particularly with respect to the idea that major permits would have to go before both the Planning Commission and the BoCC.
County Manager Chuck Stevens told commissioners that such an addition would likely delay permit decisions by one month. Minkler first offered the concept as a safeguard mechanism to ensure that permits received review from more than just the three county commissioners.
Changes to the chapter will appear in a third draft, which is to be released sometime before the April 18 planning meeting of the BoCC. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the board room and online. The public will be able to offer comment at that time.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
