The county commissioners, during a business meeting on Tuesday, discussed the idea of putting a moratorium in place until they get revised regulations in place and new regulations adopted and the fees revised. Logan County's Planning and Zoning Commission is already working on regulations for battery storage and while wind turbine and solar regulations were last adopted by the county in 2023, Commissioner Jim Santomaso suggested there are some changes that could be made to them and also asked that the county come up with regulations for data centers.
One of the things that would change in the wind and solar regulations is the amount of time between when the notice of the permit application is given to neighboring landowners and when the hearing date is set. This was discussed previously between the commissioners and County Planner Rob Quint and at the time Quint said he felt the current 14-day period is too short. At that same time, there was a discussion about increasing Logan County's permit fees to be more in line with neighboring counties and to cover the cost of having an outside third-party review the permits. There was also discussion about increasing fees for larger projects.
At Tuesday's meeting, Quint said wind and solar regulations and battery storage regulations should be completed quickly, but regulations for data centers may take more time because he hasn't found any Colorado regulations that address that. He plans to reach out to see if Laramie County has any regulations, as Cheyenne, Wyo., will be the site of one of the largest data center hubs in the future.
All regulations will go through the Planning and Zoning Commission, which will make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The commissioners will then hold a public hearing before adopting the regulations. Planning and Zoning will also give input on fees.
Commissioner Mike Brownell asked Quint if he thought a three-month moratorium would be too long.
"I don't want to foul up a good chance of some economic development, but I also don't want to go into it not feeling like we've covered all our bases," he said.
Quint didn't think that would be too long; however, County Attorney Alan Samber suggested making it six months and if it takes less time than that to complete the regulations and fee revisions, the moratorium can be lifted sooner.
The commissioners directed Samber to put together a resolution declaring a moratorium to be approved at their next business meeting on Oct. 21.
During a work session, the commissioners heard from Andrew Frtizler, chairman of Sterling Urban Renewal Authority, and Trae Miller, executive director of the Logan County Economic Development Corporation and SURA board member, about SURA's plans for a new West Main Street Urban Renewal Area. The two also spoke at an RE-1 Valley School Board meeting on Monday and will be going to the Sterling City Council, Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District and Northern Water Conservancy District.
The primary mission of SURA is to encourage development in downtown blighted areas. They are able to do this by getting tax dollars incrementally and reinvesting them in their various districts.
Right now, there are three existing plan areas within the SURA district — Gateway, which includes Walgreens, Bank of Colorado and Family Food Market, Downtown, and the Excel, which is the area where Sterling Ethanol and Trinidad Benham are located, and all of their Tax Increment Financing (TIF) expires in the next five years.
"The Downtown is where we've been able to do a lot of work with some of the small property owners, small businesses and things and help get those improvements done in those buildings, which is extremely costly in those old structures, old infrastructures," Miller said.
They have also helped with sidewalk work.
Now, SURA is planning to add a new area, the West Main Street Urban Renewal Area, which stretches all the way down W. Main Street and a block north and south. Walmart is not included in the designated area, but the Pioneer Park softball fields are, due to conversations that have happened in the past about potential needs at that site.
"This one is so important for our ability to attract more retail development," Miller said.
Under state law, SURA must negotiate an intergovernmental agreement with the county, city, school district and water districts concerning the sharing of incremental property tax revenue and the impacts of the plan on those entities' services. The IGAs must be completed by Dec. 29.
In other business, Marilee Johnson, a member of Logan County's America 250 — Colorado 150 committee, brought a suggestion from the committee to paint a mural on part of the west side of the grandstands at the Logan County Fairgrounds to commemorate the occasion. The commissioners liked the idea but said they want to have final approval of the artwork.
Additionally, the commissioners approved an application for a subdivision exemption on behalf of Donald W. and Mary Jane Fritzler to create a 2.85-acre parcel from a 160-acre parcel in an Environmental Protection (EP) Zone district for use as a residence; an application for a subdivision exemption on behalf of John P. and Carol L. Lambrecht to create a 22.53-acre parcel from an 81-acre parcel in an Agriculture (A) Zone district for use as a residence; and a subdivision exemption on behalf of Kerry Michael Welch to create a 7.313-acre parcel from a 70.663-acre parcel in an Environmental Protection (EP) zone district for use as a residence. They also approved an agreement between Logan County and Pivot Energy Development, LLC, and issued a right of way permit for the use of the county right of way along Iris Drive for driveway access.
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