Horse business study continues

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

About 40 county residents turned out for two public meetings that reported the progress of a Larimer County study on revising regulations for horse businesses.

Held on June 22 in Loveland and June 25 in Fort Collins, the meetings mark the midway point for a 21-member volunteer group that is reviewing current regulations and considering appropriate changes. Several members commented that the task is more difficult than they realized when they started the process.

The goal of the working group is to "achieve enduring land use compatibility that supports both a healthy equine industry and the property rights of all Larimer County citizens."

Study leader Linda Hoffmann, who works as director of the Rural Land Use Center, said the timeframe calls for holding public hearings on any recommended changes by the end of the year.

"There's no point in talking about this indefinitely," she said. "If we can't reach agreement, we will just move forward with what we have."

Larimer County established zoning regulations in the 1960s and enforces its zoning code on a complaint basis, which means horse facilities can be out of compliance but continue to operate without county scrutiny.

Part of the June meetings focused on existing regulations for horse facilities. Hoffmann said the study group at this time sees no need to change regulations for riding stables, which provide recreation for the general public. The group, however, is leaning toward combining regulations for boarding stables and riding academies into a new definition of equestrian centers.

The group is also considering matching the level of review with the size of the business and its potential for incompatibility with neighbors. To do that, it needs a list of tangible, quantifiable measures of use that will determine the amount of review.

Given the small number of people at the recent meetings, Hoffmann urged rural residents to visit the county web site www.larimer.org/horses/ to download and fill out several survey forms found under the public meetings tab. The survey topics include equestrian center definition, scalable system approach and transition program.

A scalable system concept could help bridge the gap between those who want less regulation and those who think it's unfair for the county's regulations to be inconsistently applied.

A transition program delves into how current nonconforming horse facilities might be encouraged to follow either the current or new regulations. At this time, the county charges $2,300 for a business to go through the special review process. Charges for site plan review, building permits and impact fees are additional.

"We've got to have more people come and give us feedback," Hoffmann said.

Group member LuAnn Goodyear said she wants to hear from horse facilities that work with 4-H members and other nonprofit groups. "If they have to go through an expensive process, they can't offer horse boarding for kids," she observed.

The working group is also educating itself on taxation issues and invited the county appraisers to its May meeting. Meeting minutes can also be found on the web site.

"The lines between residential, agricultural and commercial are pretty murky," Hoffmann said. If a horse facility is categorized as commercial, for example, business personal property tax will be assessed.

Interested residents are also encouraged to sign up on the e-mail notification list to keep informed of the working group's progress and meeting schedule. The next round of public meetings is tentatively set for September.