County releases draft Land Use Code regulations for oil and gas development
Sep 17th
Planning Commission to review regulations on Sept. 24
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County has drafted a set of proposed Land Use Code regulations for oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County and is actively seeking review and comment from the public, industry and state agencies.
The draft regulations are available for review on the county’s Oil and Gas Development webpage.
What: Public hearing on the Draft Development Plan Review regulations addressing oil and gas development within the county’s Land Use Code
When: Monday, Sept. 24, 4 p.m.
Where: Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder
Land Use staff will present the proposed regulations to the Planning Commission, which will then consider public comments and provide recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners or provide further direction to staff.
Public testimony will be taken at the hearing (each speaker is allowed 3 minutes). Written comments are also encouraged and can be emailed tocommissioners@bouldercounty.org or submitted to staff in hard copy at the hearing.
The goal of the draft regulations is to work within the authority provided to counties and enact the most protective land use regulations possible for new oil and gas development. Boulder County recognizes the extent of state authority over these operations and seeks to create local regulations that harmonize with state regulations.
Topics addressed in the regulations include avoidance and mitigation of impacts to the county’s air and water quality, transportation system and environmental resources. The regulations also address land use compatibility issues and emergency response.
“These draft regulations are an important part of our multifaceted approach to addressing the issues associated with oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County,” Commissioner Cindy Domenico said. “We are seeking feedback so that we can enact effective regulations that protect our environment and the health and safety of our residents, and harmonize with state and federal regulations.”
Timeline
• Feb. 2 – The Board of County Commissioners approve a temporary moratorium on the processing of the required development plans for local oil and gas permits under the county Land Use Code (Resolution 2012-16) and release a statement detailing their concerns about the potential for significantly expanded oil and gas drilling within the county.
• March 1 – Public hearing for commissioners to hear staff presentations and public testimony. After the four-hour hearing, commissioners direct staff to continue gathering information about the impacts of oil and gas drilling on air, water, land, roads and infrastructure.
• April 16 – Commissioners vote unanimously to extend temporary moratorium on processing of applications for oil and gas development in unincorporated parts of the county until Feb. 4, 2013 (Resolution 2012-46).
• May 16 – Planning Commission authorizes the initiation of an amendment process to the oil and gas policies in the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan
• June 20 – Planning Commission reviews proposed oil and gas policies amendments presented by Land Use staff, and takes public testimony.
• July 18 – Planning Commission further reviews proposed oil and gas policies amendments presented by Land Use staff, and takes public testimony.
• Aug. 15 – Planning Commission adopts amendments to Comprehensive Plan.
• Aug. 22 – County Commissioners and Planning Commission hold a joint study session to discuss possible future Land Use Code amendments.
The county anticipates adopting a set of regulations by the end of the year. For more information about the county’s role in oil and gas development, upcoming meetings and public involvement opportunities, visit the county’s Oil and Gas Development webpage or contact Jim Webster at 720-564-2600 orjbwebster@bouldercounty.org.
Boulder to test green bike-lanes
Sep 13th
Cyclists and motorists traveling north along Folsom Street will notice something new at the intersections of Canyon Boulevard and Pearl Street – green bike lanes. As part of a pilot project, the City of Boulder’s Transportation Division has installed the new pavement markings to promote community awareness and increase safety for both cyclists and motorists. The city is testing the green bike lanes’ effectiveness with reducing “right hook” collisions, which involve a motorist making a right turn and accidentally colliding with a cyclist traveling in the same direction in the adjacent bike lane, as depicted in the attached diagram. Citywide, approximately 14 percent of all motor vehicle collisions involving cyclists have been attributed to right hook collisions. The intersections of Folsom Street and Canyon Boulevard (#2) and Folsom and Pearl streets (#12) were identified among the top 15 most common collision locations. These statistics were included in the Safe Streets Boulder Report, a study of motor vehicle collisions involving cyclists or pedestrians during a 40-month period between January 2008 and April 2011.
The new pavement markings on Folsom Street are the first phase of the pilot project, with additional green bike lanes planned along Colorado Avenue and Table Mesa Drive this fall. Evaluations to test the effectiveness of the markings will include field observations and an online community survey to gather input from cyclists and motorists. The green bike lanes are a traffic engineering component of the city’s three-part action plan to reduce the number of traffic collisions in Boulder through engineering, education and enforcement. The Heads Up Boulder: Mind the Crosswalk campaign was launched this summer to help educate the community about three new crosswalk safety ordinances and the Boulder Police Department will be proactively enforcing the ordinances at Boulder’s busiest intersections this fall. The new pavement markings were installed on Thursday, Sept. 6, using a preformed thermoplastic material that includes an anti-skid layer to reduce slipping. Boulder is joining other communities such as Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and San Francisco, Calif. in experimenting with bike lane pavement markings. The attached photo shows the green bike lane at the intersection of Canyon Boulevard and Folsom Street and the attached diagram depicts a right hook collision.
The new pavement markings on Folsom Street are the first phase of the pilot project, with additional green bike lanes planned along Colorado Avenue and Table Mesa Drive this fall. Evaluations to test the effectiveness of the markings will include field observations and an online community survey to gather input from cyclists and motorists. The green bike lanes are a traffic engineering component of the city’s three-part action plan to reduce the number of traffic collisions in Boulder through engineering, education and enforcement. The Heads Up Boulder: Mind the Crosswalk campaign was launched this summer to help educate the community about three new crosswalk safety ordinances and the Boulder Police Department will be proactively enforcing the ordinances at Boulder’s busiest intersections this fall. The new pavement markings were installed on Thursday, Sept. 6, using a preformed thermoplastic material that includes an anti-skid layer to reduce slipping. Boulder is joining other communities such as Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and San Francisco, Calif. in experimenting with bike lane pavement markings. The attached photo shows the green bike lane at the intersection of Canyon Boulevard and Folsom Street and the attached diagram depicts a right hook collision.
CU Law School students and alumni to teach high school students statewide about the Constitution
Sep 13th
More than 75 students and dozens of alumni of the University of Colorado Law School will teach a lesson on the Fourth Amendment in more than 100 high school classrooms throughout Colorado the week of Sept. 17- 21 in recognition of Constitution Day.
Constitution Day is a national event that annually commemorates the Sept. 17, 1787, signing of the United States Constitution.
The students and alumni will visit classrooms in Aurora, Boulder, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Denver, Glenwood Springs, Grand County, Greeley, Fort Collins, Longmont, Watkins and Wray as part of the Colorado Law School Constitution Day Project, launched in 2011 by the Byron White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law
“The program was such a success last year that we have expanded it significantly for 2012 and hope to continue that expansion in future years,” said Melissa Hart, associate professor of law and director of the Byron White Center. “We are particularly pleased to be able to visit schools all over the state, and will maintain that priority as we expand.
“Our students and alumni are excited about the opportunity to work with high school students and teachers, and to contribute to the important goal of broadening public constitutional literacy.”
The lesson plan, which was created by law students with the guidance of Hart and several high school civics teachers, begins with a review of the basic structure of the Constitution and then focuses on the text of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of private property by the government. After reviewing the law, students will be guided through a debate about whether a school’s search of a student’s text messages violated the student’s constitutional rights.
In the first year of the project in 2011, the center sent 60 law students to over 50 high school classrooms to teach a lesson, which was followed by student debates involving a hypothetical situation that applied the First Amendment to a student Facebook posting.
