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Department of Community Development
Reference: Amend Land Use and Development Code Regarding Oil and Gas Regulations
To: Mayor Richard N. McLean and Members of City Council
Through: Manuel Esquibel, City Manager
Prepared By: Holly Prather, AICP, Community Development Director
Margaret Brubaker, Esq., Legal Counsel for the City
Matthew Sura, Esq., Legal Counsel on Oil/Gas Related Matters
Date Prepared: March 10, 2015
PURPOSE
To consider at first reading an ordinance approving an amendment to the Municipal Code, Chapter 17. Land Use and Development Code regarding oil and gas regulations.
Note: The public hearing was held on February 17, 2015 and the City Council voted to continue consideration of the first reading of the ordinance to its regular meeting on March 17, 2015.
UPDATE
As directed by the City Council at the February 17th public hearing, the City Manager and staff met with COGA on Friday, February 27th, Wednesday, March 4th, and via conference call on Monday, March 9th. As a result of those meetings, the ordinance has been further refined, and the revised ordinance is attached for consideration by the City Council. Generally, the revisions are as follows:
1) § 17-64-110 Preliminary Site Application. Consistent with the City's intent to encourage dialogue between City staff and operators prior to the actual City permitting process, this section of the ordinance has been refined to require a Pre-Application Conference. The goal of the pre-application conference is for City staff and the Operator to review the proposed oil and gas operation to ensure it occurs in a manner that confirms compliance with applicable local, state and federal regulations. The pre-application conference will also provide an opportunity for the Operator and City staff to:
a. Discuss the provisions set forth in Section 17-8-30 of the Code;
b. Review the City's Conditional Use review process so that the applicant can plan its proposed oil and gas operation in a manner that ensures compliance with the Code;
c. Review the (proposed) Drilling Unit that is being accessed;
d. Review the preferred oil and gas location, site-specific matters, and, if necessary, possible alternatives;
e. Discuss project impacts (particularly as related to the City's domestic water supply) and possible mitigation methods, including field design and infrastructure construction, to minimize impacts;
f. Discuss coordination of field design with other existing or potential development and oil and gas operations; and
g. Inform the applicant about the benefits of the expedited administrative approval by MOU process as more particularly set forth in Section 17-64-420.
The pre-application conference approach already exists in the City's Land Use and Development Code [Section 17-8-30 (b) (4)] and was determined to be necessary and appropriate for oil and gas operators as well.
2) Alternative location analysis will only be required if the proposed Oil and Gas Location will be less than 1,000 feet from a home or other building unit. The previous draft required the analysis if the location was proposed within 1,320 feet of a building unit.
3) The definition of Drilling Unit has been deleted.
4) A definition of Air Quality Mitigation Plan has been added.
5) The term "flowlines" has been replaced with "pipelines" in section 17-64-170.
CRITERIA BY WHICH COUNCIL MUST CONSIDER THE ITEM
Under the City's police powers, a local jurisdiction may implement regulations for the protection of the public's health, safety and welfare. Local jurisdictions have routinely enacted regulations within the land use context. In the context of oil and gas regulation, care needs to be given to meld those local regulations with the COGCC State regulations, and create a balance of interests between the health, safety, and welfare protections of the citizenry and reasonable oil and gas development.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff is recommending approval of the ordinance as further refined. After more than two years of research and review, receipt of information from the spectrum of entities, both governmental and private, input from citizens, and significant discussions and negotiations with representatives of the oil and gas industry, the Staff believes that this ordinance creates the necessary balance of interests between the health, safety, and welfare protections of the citizenry and responsible oil and gas development in the City of Brighton.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
1. Approve the ordinance on first reading.
2. Approve the ordinance on first reading with revisions, additions or deletions.
3. Continue first reading of the ordinance to a date certain.
4. Not approve the ordinance on first reading with specific findings and direction.
ATTACHMENTS
· Ordinance (Revised draft for review and approval by the Council)