The Delta County Coalition has been in communication with several county officials and has submitted comments outlining our positions on topics concerning the in progress Land Use Code revision. This page is intended to outline some of these positions and will be amended from time to time. Please note that although we continue to advocate for these and many other issues, a listed item does not indicate whether the county will adopt these recommendations or not.

  • Reiteration of the County’s previous commitment that “the county does not use drones related to land use, period” and that this would be included in the LUC in writing.
  • Reiteration of the County’s previous commitment that BoCC are the only entity that will issue tickets (civil infractions) and through this the BoCC will offer opportunity for appeals, etc; the compliance officer will not be issuing tickets.  
  • Reiteration of the County’s previous commitment that enforcement will remain complaint based and will continue to require written, signed complaints and that the  County Compliance Officer will not be driving around the county looking for problems and writing tickets.  County employees should not be allowed to make complaints in their official capacity, as this would result in the compliance officer writing his own complaints which would amount to active enforcement.  County staff may make complaints as private individuals in their own private lives eg. as related to their own neighbors etc.
  • Code enforcement not to be carried out by armed officers – remove any proposed language designating the Sheriffs to carry out land use enforcement.  
  • Any property damage caused by inspectors or code enforcement shall not be indemnified but instead covered by the county
  • Delete: Fines of up to $1000/day applied per each separate day a violation exists and applied retroactively, potentially amounting to enormous fines and liens placed against properties for even small infractions caused by previous owners.  3yrs of daily retroactive fines of $1000/day for a small violation caused by the previous landowner is over $100,000 (delete CH1,Sec3,E,1,b)
  • Keep in context that the county to date has never issued fines and has instead worked with landowners to resolve issues.
  • If a violation exists, future permits MAY be withheld at the discretion of the BoCC, not MUST be withheld. Don’t tie the hands of the BoCC, allow this to be used by the BoCC only when appropriate. 
  • If a moving permit is not secured for moving a mobile home, the mover is held responsible, not the owner.  Similar to an electrician being held responsible for electrical permits, not a homebuyer.  
  • Clarification that 30 day requirement to meet conditions or face revocation of permits ONLY applies to situations that constitute a danger to persons or property
  • Reiteration of previous County commitment that code compliance officers will attempt to contact property owners prior to visiting or entering property and will not trespass.
  • Extensive public input that the “Code Compliance Officer” title be renamed something more community oriented and constructive and remove the word “officer”.  Suggestions from the public have included “Land Use review” “compliance review” “Land use oversight”.
  • Events: exempt properties in A20 and A35 with setbacks of at least 600 ft from nearest residence.  Expand current proposed reduction from 30 events and 70 days to only 2 events per year to instead 12 events.