2021 Colorado Code
Title 29 - Government - Local
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:
   1. The right to own and use private property is a fundamental right, essential to the continued vitality of a democratic society;
   2. 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
   3. 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.

History. Source: L. 99: Entire part added, p. 586, § 1, effective July 1.

Law reviews. For article, “Animus Over Animas?--Changes in Regulatory Takings Law in Colorado”, see 31 Colo. Law. 69 (April 2002).

Practical effects of this part 2 was to codify the test for regulatory takings announced by the United States supreme court in Nollan v. Cal. Coastal Comm'n, 483 U.S. 825 (1987), and Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994). These opinions established the presumption that a local government that conditions approval of a proposed development on an exaction of property effects a compensable taking. This presumption can be overcome only if the local government proves that (1) there is an “essential nexus” between the dedication or payment and a legitimate government interest; and (2) the dedication or payment is “roughly proportional” both in nature and extent to the impact of the proposed use or development of such property. Consequently, under this part 2, a local government that requires a landowner to “dedicate real property to the public or pay money or provide services to a public entity in an amount that is determined on an individualized and discretionary basis” must first satisfy each prong of the Nollan/Dolan test. Wolf Ranch, LLC v. City of Colo. Springs, 220 P.3d 559 (Colo. 2009).