§ 13.14.010. Purpose.

(a)

These regulations are enacted to provide for the safety, preserve the health, promote the prosperity and improve the morals, order, comfort and convenience of the present and future residents of the Town. It is the Town's intent, by enacting these regulations, to facilitate the development of oil and gas resources within the Town while mitigating potential land use conflicts between such development and existing, as well as planned, land uses. It is recognized that, under State law, the surface and mineral estates are separate and distinct interests in land and that one may be severed from the other. Owners of subsurface mineral interests have certain legal rights and privileges, including the right to use that part of the surface estate reasonably required to extract and develop their subsurface mineral interests, subject to compliance with the provisions of these regulations and any applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. The State has a recognized interest in fostering the efficient development, production and utilization of oil and gas resources and in the prevention of waste and protection of the correlative rights of common source owners and producers to a fair and equitable share of production profits. Similarly, owners of the surface estate have certain legal rights and privileges, including the right to have the mineral estate developed in a reasonable manner and to have adverse land use impacts upon their property, associated with the development of the mineral estate, mitigated through compliance with these regulations, so long as these regulations do not create an operational conflict with the State's authority to regulate oil and gas development. Municipal governments have a recognized, traditional authority and responsibility to regulate land use within their jurisdiction to the extent they do not create an operational conflict. These regulations are intended as an exercise of this land use authority.

(b)

The Town recognizes that this Chapter does not supersede or preempt the regulations of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission or any other State regulations, nor is this Chapter intended to conflict with them. The Town further acknowledges that a permit to drill issued by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission shall be binding with respect to any operationally conflicting requirement under this Chapter.

(Ord. 3.285 §1, 2011)