Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2019 10 10

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes September 12th, 2019 Page 2 of 12 All required notice was met. Ritchie presented the proposed ordinance, which will comply with the new state regulations for S.B. 19-181, "Protect Public Welfare Oil and Gas Operations," allowing for greater local control. There are no current drilling activities or actively -producing wells within the city and no active permits have been filed with the state since 1999. The intent of this ordinance is to require a 30-day notice for oil and gas operator registration, which includes the following: • Good faith estimate on number of well sites and wells within 5 years • Map showing locations • Well estimates • Information demonstrating capability to meet requirements • Requirement to update information as necessary • Requirement to reapply after 5 years if no application has been submitted Staff recommends approval of Resolution 16, Series 2019. Rice disclosed that his wife is an executive with a large oil and gas company, but he did not consider it a conflict of interest since that company was not doing in business in Boulder County and likely not doing business anywhere in Colorado. Howe asked about the moratorium. Kelly replied that the draft proposed a 6-month moratorium, though staff was also presenting a draft to Council without a moratorium. Updating the regulations would be an expensive and long process and there had been some discussion about the relevance of making those updates, given how much staff time would be needed and the possibility that the ordinance may no longer be up-to-date by the time an application came through. The moratorium would allow for a timely review of regulations. Council had talked through scenarios in which the 6-month timeline would not be long enough or the Council would not be able to secure a super majority if there were any absent council members when an application came through. Therefore, the language meant that a filing would trigger the moratorium. Howe asked if 6 months was an adequate amount of time. Kelly replied that the courts view temporary moratoria as legitimate means to update ordinances. When you push it to a year, it starts looking like a ban on the activity. If the City found that it needed more than 6 months while it was actively working on its regulations, it could choose to extend a moratorium. Moline asked if this would apply to properties that the City had an ownership share in but that were outside the City limits. Kelly replied that it would not. Williams asked what the ramifications would be if there were a ban. 4