AIRFuture development in the area should not result in significant degradation of these elements.
AIRProper planning and adherence to federal, state and county standards and regulations, increased ride sharing, variable work schedules, and improved control of dust pollution are measures which should be encouraged to protect people and property from the harmful effects of air pollution, excessive noise and noxious odors.
1. The County should initiate a study, to be done in cooperation with the appropriate agencies, to review air quality in the North Mountains area. The study should assess the appropriateness and adequacy of air quality regulations for mountain areas. If results show that unique circumstances in these mountain canyons and valleys warrant different regulations, the County and the State should adopt new regulations for these areas.
2. Minimize fugitive dust generated by vehicular traffic and construction and mining activities.
3. Limit the opportunity for airborne particulates by mitigating man-made disturbances.
4. Protect the health of people from detrimental effects of industrial, vehicular, and home-heating emissions.
5. Control the negative impacts of unclean air.
6. Determine the adequacy of current standards.
In addition to the following policies, the criteria in the Mountain Site Design Criteria section which apply to air, odor and noise should be followed.
Red text identifies policies which can be applied in the land use review processes.
1. All future development in the area should be planned to minimize areas of disturbance including road and driveway cuts, homesite clearings, and industrial grading and blasting areas, and to maximize revegetation opportunities.
2. All roads carrying 200 average daily automobile trips or greater should be paved.
3. The County should continue to explore environmentally sensitive dust suppressant techniques which do not damage vegetation or contaminate water courses or groundwater.
4. Improved air quality should be a criterion included in the County's road maintenance priority setting. The paving priority list should include a timetable for road paving and the method of financing the paving, including but not limited to cooperative financing arrangements with homeowners.
5. The County Planning, Health and Public Works Departments should work together to assure that snow and ice removal materials are used which do not damage vegetation or water quality. These should be applied judiciously to avoid over-sanding and over-salting roadways, and should be removed as soon as possible to reduce fugitive dust pollution.
6. The state Mined Land Reclamation Division, or the County, should enforce reclamation, and an incentive plan should be developed by the County or the State to induce current owners of pre-Reclamation Act mining sites to implement voluntary reclamation.
7. When development is proposed for a site which has unreclaimed mining activity predating the Mined Land Reclamation Act, mitigation of the unreclaimed area should be included in the new development proposal.
8. Development should be in balance with the transportation network to prevent stop and go traffic that increases vehicular emissions.
9. RTD and DRCOG should do a survey of commuter patterns in the North Mountains area which can guide the development of car and van-pool programs and public transit service. These should be publicized through community organizations and local publications.
10. The County should work with RTD to locate additional park-n-ride sites. Safety, security and convenience should be improved at existing park-n-ride sites and included in the criteria for new park-n-ride locations.
11. Bikeways, equestrian trails and pedestrian paths should be developed to encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation. When trails shown on state and county trails maps cross a proposed development site, that portion of the trail should be secured. Dedication of road right-of-way should be sufficient to provide trails and paths where appropriate.
12. New fireplaces and stoves, as of 1987, are required to comply with the new Colorado legislation regulating fireplaces and woodburning stoves. The County should encourage the retrofitting of existing fireplaces and stoves to bring them into compliance with the new standards through incentive programs. Example: a one-time property tax incentive.
13. A comprehensive study of the current air quality and the unique meteorologic conditions that affect air quality should be undertaken for the study area to determine existing ambient air quality. If the results of the study indicate that different air quality regulations should be adopted for the North Mountains area, the County should seek to have existing regulations changed.
14. Once appropriate air quality regulations are adopted for this area, an Air Quality Improvement Plan effort should be sponsored by the County in conjunction with the Regional Air Quality Council to develop implementation methods to maintain and improve air quality in the study area.
Such methods could include tax credits for more efficient vehicles and fuels, and for conversion of woodburning fireplaces, education, increased RTD ridership, etc.
15. The County, in conjunction with the state and federal governments, should make every effort to gain compliance with, and enforcement of, all applicable air quality regulations, standards and permit conditions.
16. The County should support State legislation to strengthen vehicle emission standards, and increase enforcement of these regulations.
To maintain the quality of life in the North Mountains area, the generation of offensive odors should be avoided.
1. Minimize the adverse impacts of odors associated with waste disposal, home occupations, commercial, industrial, and agricultural operations.
2. Plan, construct and maintain septic systems and sewage treatment facilities to prevent offensive odors.
In addition to the following policies, the criteria in the Mountain Site Design Criteria section which apply to air, odor and noise should be followed.
Red text identifies policies which can be applied in the land use review processes.
1. Sewage treatment facilities and septic systems should be located and engineered to avoid the generation of odors that will adversely affect existing or future developments.
2. Housing development and commercial centers should be planned to ensure safe and efficient septic system and sewage treatment placement. These waste disposal systems should employ appropriate technology to avoid producing noxious odors that will adversely affect existing or future developments.
3. Commercial and industrial developments should use exhaust systems which remove noxious odors.
4. New site plans should consider and respect the existing agricultural and ranching activities including odors which are associated with them.
5. Agricultural, industrial and commercial development should be encouraged to use management practices and appropriate technology to minimize odor emissions.
6. Jefferson County Zoning Regulations for the keeping of livestock in residential areas should be reviewed for the appropriateness of the number of animals for the size of the parcel and type of zoning. If changes are indicated, the Zoning Resolution should be revised and reviewed with County residents, interest groups, appropriate agencies and County departments.
7. Jefferson County should facilitate the coordination of the various agencies with responsibility for livestock protection and related environmental issues, to develop a comprehensive approach to handle livestock-based complaints. A list of these agencies is in the Appendix.
8. Jefferson County should work with the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to ensure strict enforcement of the "Odor Emission Regulations". The County and/or the Air Quality Control Commission should write an understandable version of these Regulations and distribute it to community groups in the County.
Quietness is a component of privacy and hence, part of the character of rural communities and neighborhoods. This rare resource should be protected from intrusions of noise levels higher than would be generated by the land uses permitted or zoned for the surrounding areas. These high noise levels and associated land uses would not be considered compatible unless mitigation can decrease the number of noise sources or alter how the noise is heard. The public should be protected from hearing loss, disruption of normal activities and negative physiological or psychological damage from excessive noise levels. An overriding concern is that current noise standards may not be suitable for mountain areas and that a noise study should be done to determine if different standards should be adopted for mountain areas of the County.
1. Minimize noise and protect privately owned areas valued for their quietness.
2. Determine the appropriate maximum levels and sound factors required to protect and improve the character of the North Mountains area.
3. Plan land uses that can meet the appropriate regulations for noise.
In addition to the following policies, the criteria in the Mountain Site Design Criteria section which apply to air, odor and noise should be followed.
Red text identifies policies which can be applied in the land use review processes.
1. Jefferson County should undertake a study with the State Health Department to determine appropriate noise standards for rural mountain environments. This study should assess the typical level of man-made background noise of mountain, residential/mountain open lands at their logical and legal buildout. It should address:
a. the intensity (db) level of sounds;
b. the frequency spectrum of sounds;
c. the time varying character of sounds;
d. the duration of sounds; and
e. the dynamics of sound travel in mountain topography.
If the study concludes that acceptable noise levels are different in the mountain areas than in the urban and suburban areas, the County Commissioners and the State Health Department should adopt noise ordinances tailored to the mountain areas.
2. Noise generated by any and all noise sources should not be allowed to exceed the noise standard established for surrounding permitted or zoned land uses, nor allowed to exceed the standards recommended or adopted pursuant to Policy #1. Noise should not be allowed to adversely affect the health of community residents nor interfere with their normal activities.
3. New development should be encouraged to provide for noise reduction, through construction and other techniques, to protect itself from existing legal noise generators.
4. New site plans should consider and respect the existing agricultural and ranching activities and any noise which is associated with them.
5. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and Health Department are encouraged to act as friendly facilitators to work with the people or businesses responsible for noise generation to secure voluntary compliance with County and State noise standards and the mitigation of annoying noises not covered by the standards, and to enforce the standards when voluntary compliance cannot be achieved.