Laserfiche WebLink
WRITER SQUARE OFFICE TOWER <br />1512 LARIMER STREET, SUITE 300 <br />DENVER, COLORADO 80202 <br />When do property rights vest? <br />LIGHT, HAR.RINGTON & DAWES, P.C. <br />ATTORNEYS AT LAW <br />FROM: Samuel J. Ligh <br />Laura Heinrich <br />DATE: February 17, 2010 <br />What is a "vested property right ?" <br />What is a site specific development plan? <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Heather Balser, Acting Planning Director <br />City of Louisv <br />SUBJECT: Overview of Colorado Vested Property Rights Statute <br />TEL. (303) 298 -1601 <br />FAX (303) 298 -1627 <br />E -MAIL Iheinrich @Ihdlaw.corn <br />This memo provides, in question and answer format, an overview of the Colorado Vested <br />Property Rights Act, C.R.S. § 24 -68 -101 et seq. ( "Act "), and related provisions of Chapter 17.54 <br />of the Louisville Municipal Code ( "Code "). <br />A "vested property right" means the right "to undertake and complete the development and use <br />of property under the terms and conditions of a site specific development plan." C.R.S. § 24 -68- <br />102(5); Code § 17.54.020. <br />1. Before enactment of the Act, the common law recognized that property rights vest after <br />substantial reliance on an issued building permit. See, e.g., City of Aspen v. Marshall, <br />912 P.2d. 56 (Colo. 1996). <br />2. Under the Act, property rights vest upon the approval or condition approval of a "site <br />specific development plan." C.R.S. § 24- 68- 103(1)(b). <br />1. A site specific development plan is a submitted plan "describing with reasonable <br />certainty the type and intensity of use" for specific property. C,R.S. § 24- 68- 102(4)(a). <br />2. The local government has the right to determine what constitutes such a plan, so long as <br />it is not a plan at the very front end or tail end of the land development process (e.g., in <br />