Department of Utilities
Reference: Amending Section 13-4-10 of the Brighton Municipal Code Regarding Water Dedication or Payment of Fee-in-Lieu of Water Dedication
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Scott Olsen, Director of Utilities
Date Prepared: November 15, 2023
BACKGROUND
City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2406 on January 23, 2023, regarding water dedication and fee-in-lieu of water dedication. City staff and the City’s water consultant find it necessary to update the water dedication and fee-in-lieu regulations. Further information on the updates is presented below.
PURPOSE
To propose updates to the City’s current water dedication and fee-in-lieu regulations. The updates will ensure the City’s water resources are secured for the existing and future residents/businesses of the City. City staff also propose to remove the fee-in-lieu amounts from Brighton Municipal Code (BMC) and place them in the Fee Resolution that is presented to City Council on an annual basis. Below is an outline of the updates proposed:
Section 13-4-10 BMC:
• Remove one acre size limitation- BMC currently allows projects that are less than or equal to one acre in total size AND have a water dedication requirement for the project equal to five acre-feet or less to pay fee-in-lieu of water dedication. During the adoption of Ordinance 2406, it was explained that it is difficult for projects with low annual water use to find small volumes of water on the free market to dedicate. City staff recognizes that the total project size is not always correlated with water use. For example, there could be a large storage warehouse that only uses water in the restrooms for a small staff. Staff proposes that projects that have a water dedication of five acre-feet or less, regardless of parcel/project size, be able to pay fee-in-lieu of water dedication.
• Remove Section 13-4-10(e)- This section of BMC allows the Director of Utilities to reduce the water dedication requirement for projects that install proven water conservation measures. This places the City at great risk and is administratively infeasible as explained in the recent Retreat at Brighton Ridge fee-in-lieu presentations to City Council. Further, the Land Use and Development Code now require xeric landscaping and water saving technologies have been incorporated into almost all water fixtures available on the market.
• Differentiate between the water dedication amounts required for water rights that have been changed in Water Court to municipal and augmentation use versus water that has not been changed to municipal and augmentation use. Because water rights that have already been changed to municipal and augmentation use have been assigned an annual water allocation, there is less risk placed on the City during any subsequent change case that may be required. This allows the City to reduce the amount of dedication required per unit if the water to be dedicated is already changed.
2024 Fee Resolution:
• Increase the fee-in-lieu amount for one acre-foot of firm-yield water rights. Per extensive research and analysis performed by City consultants, the cost of one acre-foot of firm-yield water rights has increased to $64,357. The reasons for this increase are based on the scarcity of water and an increasing population along the front range, increases in the cost of engineering and legal services and increases in the cost of infrastructure due to inflation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The increase in the fee-in-lieu amount will ensure the City has adequate funding to continue to provide water to our current and future residents/businesses.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
City staff recommend that the proposed Ordinance be adopted by City Council to ensure the City’s water resources are secured for the existing and future residents/businesses of the City of Brighton.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
Ø Adopt the Ordinance as presented
Ø Reject the Ordinance as presented
Ø Request that modifications be made to the Ordinance
ATTACHMENTS:
⮚ Ordinance
⮚ PowerPoint