Community Development Department

Scheduled Public Hearings

Crystal River in Marble

Photo courtesy of Lori Brininger

PLEASE CONTACT THE Community Development Department WITH ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PUBLIC HEARINGS.  970-641-0360

"What To Do for Your Public Hearing: A Guide for Applicants": Click HERE for a .pdf copy of this guide for applicants to prepare for a public hearing on their applications.

How to Find Names and Addresses of Landowners Adjacent to Your Property

Click HERE for a .pdf copy of instructions for obtaining names and addresses of adjacent property owners.

Commission and Board Members' Roles

The Planning Commissionis the final decision-maker for certain matters that are regulated by the Gunnison County Land Use Resolution. In all others, the Planning Commission serves as an advisory body to the Board of County Commissioners. The Board makes the final decision about Land Use Change Permits for applications that are classified as Major Impact projects, and for all Minor Impact projects that are subdivisions.

The Environmental Health Board is the final decision-maker for decisions concerning compliance of proposed individual sewage disposal systems with the Gunnison County Individual Sewage Disposal System Regulations.

The Board of Adjustments is the final decision-maker in decisions regarding applications for building variances from the Uniform Building Code and the Gunnison County Land Use Resolution.

County Staff's Role

The Community Development Department staff (planners, environmental health and building professionals) may present information during the public hearing about how an application complies with County or other government regulations, background information about the history of a particular application, and will submit for the record any contacts which the public has made to oppose or support an application. In conducting this work, the staff strives to be impartial and objective, and is an advocate neither for the applicant nor for anyone in opposition. Staff from the Public Works Department, and the County Attorney may also attend the hearing to provide information and guidance. The Commissioners and Board members rely on, but are not bound by the professional opinions of the staff.

Before the Hearing

If you have questions about an item on the agenda, contact the Community Development Department (970) 641-0360 before the day of the hearing. Knowing the answers to some of your questions before the hearing may help you prepare your comments.

Plan your presentation. If you have handouts or a long document, it is helpful to submit them to the Community Development Department the week before the public hearing, so your comments or documents can be made available to Commission or Board members in their packets, which they receive before the hearings.

If you have overhead visuals or a PowerPoint presentation, please let the Community Development Department know in advance. Determine if others will be addressing the same issues. If so, try to coordinate your presentation before the hearing to avoid duplication.

If you will be unable to attend, or simply wish to submit your comments in writing, you may deliver them directly to the Community Development Department, on the first floor of the Courthouse, or submit them by mail to the Department at 221 N Wisconsin St, Suite D, Gunnison, CO 81230, or by FAX, (970) 641-8585. While we also have the ability to receive e-mail correspondence, it is not always reliable, and so we ask that you always submit a hard copy of your written comments. All written comments submitted before the public hearing should be in our office by 5 p.m. the evening before the date of the hearing so that we have a chance to copy them, or otherwise log them in and make them available for Commission or Board members.

If you want to talk with a Commissioner or Board member about the application for which the public hearing is being conducted, do so at the hearing. They are not legally allowed to conduct "ex parte" discussions on an application, which means they are limited to hearing testimony during a public and publicly-noticed meeting.

The Hearing

The applicant or his/her representative is required, and has an opportunity, to present his/her proposal or request for a variance from the regulations affecting his/her property.

Everyone else who attends the hearing has the opportunity to speak at least once. Of course, there is no requirement that citizens speak. If you prefer, you may choose only to observe the process, and submit your comments in writing.

The hearing may be continued to a specific date, and to a specific time. You may submit information anytime during the interim.

If the hearing is not continued it will be closed, and generally the Commission or Board chairperson will indicate whether or not additional written public comment will be accepted for a specific period of time following the hearing; if that announcement is not made, ask if additional comment will be accepted.

After the Hearing

The Commission or Board may make a decision on the particular application or plan on the same day that the hearing was conducted, or may postpone a decision. Usually postponement occurs when the staff must take the information presented at the public hearing and include that within a written decision document to be acted on by the Commission or Board at a next meeting. But a decision may also be postponed because additional information is needed, because the public has raised issues that must be resolved before a decision can be made, or the Board or Commission wants to conduct an additional onsite visit to the property affected by the application.

If you are interested in attending the Commission's or Board's next meeting(s) concerning a specific application, call the Community Development Department and asked to be placed on their phone notification list for that application. There is no legal requirement either that the Department notify you, or that they call you a specific number of days before a meeting. It is a courtesy call, and while we attempt to accommodate all interested persons' schedules as much as possible, we cannot guarantee that everyone will be accommodated.

I Didn't Get a Notice of This Public Hearing in the Mail, so Why Can't the Project be tabled to Give Me More Time to Review it and Make Comments?

State law and Gunnison County regulations spell out the notice requirements for various types of development applications. In most cases, a legal ad type of notice must be published in one newspaper of general circulation in the area of the proposed project at least 14 days before the public hearing. In most cases, the County requires the applicant to post a sign regarding the pending application along each road frontage of the property at least 14 days before the public hearing. However, posting the sign at the property is a courtesy to the public and the failure of anyone to observe a sign does not invalidate any public hearing. In most cases, the County requires the applicant to mail a notice regarding the public hearing, at least 14 days before the public hearing, to "affected property owners" within at least 500 feet surrounding the property. The names and mailing address of property owners is based upon the then-current records of the County Assessor. Failure of anyone to receive a mailed notice does not invalidate any public hearing.

Office Staff