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HomeMy WebLinkAbout145 - 12/18/2012 - ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON THE ACCEPTANCE OR PROCESSING OF LAND USE APPLICATIONS, PERMIT APPLICATI ORDINANCE NO. 145, 2012 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON THE ACCEPTANCE OR PROCESSING OF LAND USE APPLICATIONS, PERMIT APPLICATIONS, AND OTHER APPLICATIONS SEEKING APPROVAL TO CONDUCT OIL AND GAS EXTRACTION OR RELATED OPERATIONS WITHIN THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the oil and gas industry is important to the Fort Collins community, and also recognizes the important of minimizing, through appropriate regulation, the adverse impacts that oil and gas exploration and extraction or any other industry may have on the health, safety, and welfare of the City and its citizens; and , WHEREAS, there has been growing interest in the exploration of oil and gas resources underlying portions of the City, including property owned by the City; and WHEREAS, oil and gas exploration, extraction, production, transportation and related operations and activities, including,without limitation, all those oil and gas activities regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (collectively "Oil and Gas Uses") may negatively impact Fort Collins citizens and the use and integrity of local water supplies and water infrastructure, air quality, roads and transportation infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure, land resources, wildlife and aesthetic values; and WHEREAS, the health and safety issues presented by the exploration for and extraction of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon resources and related activities may not be adequately addressed in the City's zoning and land use regulations and it is imperative that those regulations be reviewed in light of current regulatory best management practices consistent with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ("Commission") Rules and with industry technologies to determine whether they are sufficient to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, or whether different or additional regulations are necessary to address the impacts of such activities; and WHEREAS, if land use applications, permit applications, or any other applications for Oil and Gas Uses are approved within the City limits before City staff and the City Council have an opportunity to thoroughly examine the impact of such uses and take all steps necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, irreparable harm may be done to the residents of the City; and WHEREAS, municipalities throughout Colorado are struggling to address the potential adverse impacts of proliferating Oil and Gas Uses in urban and suburban environments on their citizens' health, safety, and welfare, and several municipalities have enacted moratoria to allow a period of time to evaluate those impacts of Oil and Gas Uses in order to assess and determine the appropriate local regulation of such; and WHEREAS, although staff has, at the direction of City Council, been diligently researching best practices in this area and has prepared proposed new regulations, additional research and review are necessary in order for the City Manager and City Attorney and their respective staffs to clarify the extent of the City's legal authority with regard to local regulation of such Oil and Gas Uses and to formulate any recommended amendments to the City Code to deal with those uses in an appropriate manner; and WHEREAS, the Commission is presently engaged in a rule making proceeding that may result in new regulations being established; and WHEREAS, in preparing its regulations, the City should consider such new rules as may be promulgated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; and WHEREAS,the imposition of a seven-month moratorium on the submission, acceptance, consideration, and approval of any and all applications for City licenses, permits and other approvals related in any way to Oil and Gas Uses within the City, except on existing well heads, will allow City staff and the City Council the time needed to further investigate the extent of City's authority to regulate such uses, to consider any new regulations adopted by the Commission, and to develop and implement appropriate regulations; and WHEREAS, seven months is a reasonable period of time and is no longer than necessary for the City to determine the extent to which Oil and Gas Uses may be locally regulated and to properly investigate, develop, and, if appropriate, adopt and implement any local regulations related to Oil and Gas Uses in Fort Collins in order to protect and preserve the public's health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS,existing Oil and Gas Uses in Fort Collins will not be unduly prejudiced by the imposition of such a moratorium, since the ongoing operation of such uses will not be prohibited or terminated by this moratorium; and WHEREAS, Colorado Revised Statutes Section 31-25-216 provides that the City has "full police power and jurisdiction and full municipal control and full power and authority" to manage, control, and improve and maintain any parks acquired by the City outside of the City's municipal limits; and WHEREAS, the City's natural areas that are open to the public fall within the purview of Section 31-25-216 C.R.S.; and WHEREAS, accordingly, the City Council has further determined that this moratorium should apply to all City-owned parks and natural areas outside of the City limits. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the preceding recitals contained in this Ordinance are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference as findings of fact of the City Council. -2- Section 2. That the City Council further hereby finds as follows: a. That the submittal of land use applications, permit applications, or applications requesting approval to conduct oil and gas exploration, extraction, and related operations and activities within the City limits may be imminent, and that the City's existing regulations in this area do not adequately take into consideration current industry technologies so as to properly mitigate the impacts of these types of activities, to protect and preserve the public health, safety, and welfare. b. That a seven-month moratorium on the acceptance or processing of any land use application, permit applications, or any other application requesting approval to conduct oil and gas exploration, extraction, and related operations and activities within the City limits, is necessary and reasonable for the purpose of studying the impacts of these types of uses and new rules expected to be promulgated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and determining whether additional land use and zoning regulations are necessary to protect and preserve the public health, safety, and welfare. Section 3. That, to address this situation, there is hereby imposed, as of midnight December 28, 2012, a moratorium on the acceptance or processing of any land use application, permit application, or any other application requesting approval to conduct an Oil and Gas Use within the City limits and within any City-owned parks or natural areas outside of the City limits that are open to the public; provided, however, that this moratorium shall not apply to applications to conduct maintenance operations on oil and gas wells existing in the City as of December 4, 2012. This moratorium shall terminate as of midnight July 31, 2013, or on such earlier date as may be established by the City Council by ordinance. Section 4. That this Ordinance shall control over any conflicting ordinance of the City, but only to the extent of the conflict. Section 5. That if any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is held to be unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, such decision shall not affecting the validity or constitutionality of and shall be severable from the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each part or parts hereof irrespective of the fact that any one part or parts may be declared unconstitutional or invalid. -3- Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 4th day of December, A.D. 2012, and to be presented for final passage on the 18th day of December, A.D. 2012. -j'OFFo'PT •t n t0 Mayo ATTEST: ) 'G2 DO l/1JOVYlGf1.L City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 18th day of December, A.D. 2012. FORT a�c� LlG GL� ;N ATTEST: �EA •COLORAO0 City Clerk -4-