Commissioners Enact Temporary Moratorium

Boulder County, Colo. - The Boulder County Commissioners have adopted a six-month moratorium on processing applications for development in higher intensity (Commercial, Business, Transitional, and General Industrial) zone districts within a three-mile radius of the Town of Lyons in unincorporated Boulder County. The moratorium will allow the county to determine if the existing county zoning map and regulations meet the needs of Boulder County and the Lyons community.

The county zoning districts that are subject to the moratorium have been in place for decades, during which time there have been changes to development patterns, comprehensive plans, and intergovernmental agreements concerning growth and development. The area was heavily impacted by the 2013 Flood and considering the appropriateness of the current zoning in these flood prone areas is the evolution of flood recovery and a component of hazard mitigation and resiliency planning. Current county zoning allows development within unincorporated areas that may conflict with the orderly growth and development of the Town of Lyons and the adopted Comprehensive Plans. The moratorium will allow the county to propose and adopt amendments to the zoning map and regulations that would implement the updated vision for development and growth in these intense-use zoning districts while the lands they encompass remain under Boulder County’s jurisdiction.

The moratorium does not apply to residential and by-right agricultural development applications or to any complete development applications currently being processed by Boulder County’s Community Planning & Permitting Department.

The moratorium affects only unincorporated properties and will not affect properties within the Town of Lyons.

A public hearing on the temporary moratorium is set for Sept. 19 at 11:45 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room (3rd Floor, 1325 Pearl Street, Boulder). The hearing can be attended in person, online through Zoom, or by phone.

Written comments should be sent to hhippely@bouldercounty.gov. Comments can also be made during the Sept. 19 public hearing. Meeting registration details will be available in the Commissioners’ Advance Agenda on Friday, Sept. 8.