2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 29 - Government - Local
Land Use Control and Conservation
Article 20 - Local Government Regulationof Land Use
Part 2 - Regulatory Impairment of Property Rights
§ 29-20-201. Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:

(a) The right to own and use private property is a fundamental right, essential to the continued vitality of a democratic society;

(b) Governmental regulation of conduct, while equally essential to public order and the preservation of universally held values, must be carried out in a manner that appropriately balances the needs of the public with the rights and legitimate expectations of the individual; and

(c) This part 2 appropriately and necessarily underscores and reinvigorates the federal constitutional prohibition against taking private property for public use without just compensation and the state constitutional prohibitions against taking or damaging private property for public or private use.

(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that an individual private property owner should not be required, under the guise of police power regulation of the use and development of property, to bear burdens for the public good that should more properly be borne by the public at large.

(3) The general assembly intends, through the adoption of section 29-20-203, to codify certain constitutionally-based standards that have been established and applied by the courts. The fair, consistent, and expeditious adjudication of disputes over land use in state courts in accordance with constitutional standards is a matter of statewide concern.