HomeMy WebLinkAbout20153388.tiff FISCHER, BROWN, BARTLETT & GUNN, PC
WARD H.FISCHER(1929-1996)
WILLIAM R.FISCHER �� WILLIAM H.BROWN(Of Counsel)
MARGARET A.(Meg)BROWN WILLIAM C.GUNN (Of Counsel)
DANIEL K.BROWN
BRENT A.BARTLETT ATTORNEYS AT LAW Phone:970.407.9000
LISA A.LARSEN Fax:970.407.1055
SARA J.L.IRBY 1319 East Prospect Road E-mail:fbg@fbgpc.com
DONALD E.FRICK Fort Collins,CO 80525 Website:www.fbbglaw.com
RECEIVED
October 16, 2015 OCT 2 1 2015
WELD COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
Bruce Barker, Esq. SENT VIA EMAIL AND/OR REGULAR MAIL
Weld County Attorney
1150 O Street
P.O. Box 758
Greeley, CO 80632
Weld County Board of Commissioners
1150 O Street
P.O. Box 758
Greeley, CO 80632
Weld County Planning Department
Attn: Chris Gatham, Planner III
155 N. 17th Avenue
Greeley, CO 80631
RE: Violation of Site Specific Development Plan and Use by Special Review
Permit—USR15-0032, Silicon Ranch Corporation (Solar Array Project)
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
Please be advised that Fischer, Brown, Bartlett & Gunn, P.C., represents the Water
Supply & Storage Company ("WSSC"). As of yesterday, it came to WSSC's attention that work
occurring related to USR15-0032 on behalf of the applicant, Silicon Ranch Corporation ("Silicon
Ranch"), includes changes to the historical drainage of the property and WSSC's ditch easement
10 -15 CG:it,; &-.- 1°1,94
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for maintenance and access purposes. Both of these matters directly impact WSSC and its
operation of the Larimer County Canal and were done without notice to WSSC or the ditch
company's prior review and approval. Silicon Ranch's alterations of the historical drainage flow
and the proximity of the solar panels to WSSC's structures is creating a possible hazardous
situation that not only could compromise WSSC's structures but also the public's safety and
welfare.
Silicon Ranch owns property generally located in the NE 1/4 of Section 16, Township 7
North, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M. (the "Property"), which it plans to use for a solar array
project (the "Project"). WSSC owns and operates the Larimer County Canal (the "Ditch") a
portion of which traverses the subject USR parcel along the east side of the Property. This Ditch
feeds several large lateral ditches in Larimer and Weld Counties. WSSC has a valid and existing
right-of-way and easement for the Ditch and sufficient lands on each side of the Ditch to allow
WSSC to fully enjoy and utilize the easement and right-of-way for access, maintenance, repair
and replacement of the Ditch and its other facilities and appurtenances (the "Ditch Easement").
The Ditch Easement encompasses a written easement for this portion of the Ditch, recorded
under Book No. 137191, Page 449 on February 2, 1909 and a right for lands on each side of the
Ditch that are reasonably necessary for WSSC's use, maintenance and operation of the Ditch.
Under Colorado law, WSSC has the right to reasonably maintain the Ditch and its related
appurtenances. Such maintenance includes having sufficient space on each side of the Ditch to
be able to access the Ditch, use heavy equipment for Ditch repairs and to remove obstructions
from the Ditch, and to meet other maintenance obligations. Historically, WSSC has burned this
portion of the Ditch in the early spring to prepare the Ditch for the irrigation season. All of this
historical maintenance of the Ditch and the land needed to perform such maintenance is
imperative for WSSC's use, operation and maintenance of the Ditch and Ditch Easement.
Moreover, WSSC wants to ensure that the burning of the Ditch will not compromise any of
Silicon Ranch's solar panels and related equipment, and relayed this concern to the County and
Silicon Ranch's representatives.
WSSC only recently has been included in the notification, review and approval process of
this Project, at no mistake of WSSC. Applicant mistakenly notified the Larimer and Weld
Irrigation Company about the Project and, as a result, WSSC was not notified of the Project until
August 24, 2015. two days before the public hearing on August 26, 2015. When WSSC received
late notice of the Project on August 24, 2015, Dennis Harmon, General Manager of WSSC,
promptly emailed Chris Gatham at the Weld County Planning Department that same day
expressing WSSC's concerns and requesting that the final plat include a notation that the Ditch
Easement encompassed 50-feet on each side of the Ditch from the high water mark. Mr. Gatham
indicated to Mr. Harmon that a condition of approval would be added to address this concern.
Based on our review of the Resolution following the public hearing on August 26, 2015, there is
no condition addressing WSSC's Ditch Easement. Despite Mr. Harmon's communication with
the County in August, Mr. Harmon still was not contacted by Silicon Ranch until mid-
September. At a meeting on September 21, 2015, Mr. Harmon and the undersigned counsel
discussed WSSC's concerns with representatives of Silicon Ranch and indicated that the
historical Ditch Easement would need to be recognized by Silicon Ranch. Through further
correspondence with the County on September 23, 2015, Mr. Harmon was informed that his
concerns about the absence of a condition in the Resolution had been relayed to County Attorney
Bruce Barker. To date, Mr. Harmon has not received a response from Mr. Barker, the County
Planners or Silicon Ranch, but construction within the Ditch Easement has commenced and solar
panels already are being installed on the Property.
In addition to not being informed about the Project and impacts to the Ditch Easement
until mid-August, yesterday WSSC learned for the first time that the historical drainage on the
from WSSC or surrounding landowners,
also was being altered without approvalo ,
including the Cactus Hill Ranch. Upon information and belief, to date the only drainage analysis
submitted by Silicon Ranch to the County is a brief Drainage Memo dated May 22, 2105 (and
amended in July), which concludes that the proposed drainage improvements will result in no
significant change to peak runoff, volume or water quality. However, Silicon Ranch's
representation in the Drainage Memo does not match our discussions with Silicon Ranch and its
representatives yesterday nor the work currently going on at the site. In particular, pursuant to
our discussions, it appears as though the north drainage system is being changed to remove a
detention pond and rework a current drainage ditch in the northeast corner of the Property, which
is there to accept drainage from the Cactus Hill Ranch and storm water runoff from Highway 14.
The proposed new drainage system inevitably will modify the historical drainage from the
Property and Highway 14 into the Ditch by changing the amounts, timing and possibly the
quality of water delivered into the Ditch. As a result, such changes to the historical drainage
pattern could result in damage to the Ditch, not to mention the possible impacts it could have on
the public's safety and welfare by creating dangerous drainage or flood conditions. While
Silicon Ranch asserts that the historical drainage patterns and flows will not be impacted by this
Project, there has been no hydrology reports or engineering analysis provided to WSSC or its
engineers to confirm these assertions. Such unilateral alterations of the historical drainage flows,
without input from all interested parties, is a violation of the USR approval process and could
impact the public's safety and welfare. Until these reports are received and reviewed by all
interested parties, work at the site should cease.
Finally, WSSC understands that Phase B of the Project is currently under review by the
County and involves alterations to the south drainage system on the Property and possibly a new
structure within the Ditch Easement to allow such drainage flows into the Ditch. WSSC must be
put on notice regarding any plans and specifications regarding Phase B of the Project and Silicon
Ranch seek arid tl SSSC before g forward on Phase must review approval from ;✓..,,ice rnavu.b r .iasc B.
WSSC would like to work with the County and Silicon Ranch to reach an amicable
resolution of its concerns. However, until 1) a condition is added to the USR Plat indicating that
the Ditch Easement encompasses 50-feet on each side of the Ditch from the high water line, 2)
WSSC's engineer reviews the yet to be provided hydrology report from Silicon Ranch regarding
the alterations to the north drainage system, and 3) WSSC's other concerns related to Phase B of
the project are addressed, WSSC requests that the County suspend the USR Permit No. USR15-
0032 and, in turn, that Silicon Ranch cease any further construction and installation on the
Property.
Sincerely,
SUP1t.
Sara J.L. Irby
cc: Dennis Harmon—WSSC
Eldon Mans—WSSC
Randy Feuerstein—Counsel for Silicon Ranch
10)R 1 LIND, OTTENHOFF
& ROOT LIT Kenneth F. Lind
Attorneys at Law George H. Ottenhoff
John D.Root
355 Eastman Park Dr., Ste. 200 • Windsor, CO 80550
Telephone: (970) 674-9888 • Fax: (970) 674-9535 Chrysten S. Hinze
Email. chiys@lorlegal.com
October 9, 2015
Bruce Barker, Esq.
Weld County Attorney
1150 O Street
P.O. Box 758 RECEIVED
Greeley, CO 80632
OCT 1 's 2015
Weld County Commissioners
1150 O Street WELD COUNTY
P.O. Box 758 COMMISSIONERS
Greeley, CO 80632
Weld County Planning Dept.
155 N. 17th Avenue
Greeley, CO 80631
Attn: Chris Gathman, Planner Ill
RE: VIOLATION OF SITE SPECIFICIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND USE BY SPECIAL REVIEW PERMIT, USR15-0032,FOR
ANY USE PERMITTED AS A USE BY RIGHT,ACCESSORY USE, OR USE BY SPECIAL REVIEW IN THE COMMERCIAL OR
INDUSTRIAL ZONE DISTRICTS (SOLAR ARRAY FARM), PROVIDED THAT THE PROPERTY IS NOT A LOT ON AN
APPROVED OR RECORDED SUBDIVISION PLAT OR PART OF A MAP OR PLAN FILED PRIOR TO ADOPTION OF ANY
REGULATIONS CONTROLING IN THE A(AGRICULTURAL)ZONE DISTRICT-SILICON RANCH COPRORATION
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This firm has been retained to assist Cactus Hill Ranch Company, a Colorado Corporation, ("Cactus Hill")
as regards USR 15-0032 approved by the Weld County Board of Commissioners on August 26, 2015. As
of this date, Applicant/Owner Silicon Ranch Corporation has not submitted or recorded its final site plan
in this matter, but has commenced with construction of the above-referenced project.
The USR parcel is subject to two historic drainage ditches and prescriptive easements (a North Drainage
Ditch and a South Drainage Ditch) that benefit the Cactus Hill property to the west of the USR parcel. As
well, the USR parcel is subject to an historic ditch and prescriptive easement, the Larimer County Canal,
which is owned by Water Supply and Storage Co.
(',ommuvuco�i.nn,o
2015-3388
10-19-Is CC 17L,Ca,1%1 PLa3log}
The USR case on file with the Board of County Commissioners, PL2364, reflects that due to Silicon Ranch's
assertions to the County that historic flows would not be disturbed by the subject Project, the County
III granted Silicon Ranch a drainage design waiver. Therefore, there are no drainage plans or reports of
record, except as set forth in the only Site Plan of Record to date dated May 28, 2015. The Resolution
granting the Special Review Permit was signed September 29, 2015. Development Standard No. 12 states:
"The historical flow patterns and runoff amounts will be maintained on the site."
However, in commencing with construction of its project Silicon Ranch has already destroyed South
Drainage Ditch, and the North Drainage Ditch structure has been altered so that it will not function as
historically. The North structure included a pond (or fore bay)which historically accepted drainage from
the Cactus Hill property. Silicon Ranch has obliterated the pond, so it is unclear how the Cactus Hill
drainage water will drain now. In other words, Silicon Ranch is currently in the process of changing the
historic drainage flows on the USR property, in contravention of its USR application and permit, and in
contravention of Colorado Law. See attached Opinion Letter dated October 5, 2015, Paragon Consulting
Group.
On Tuesday August 4, 2015 at 10:39 a.m. Nels Nelson, of Cactus Hill, sent an email directed to Weld
County Planning requesting that conditions be made to the USR permit that Cactus Hill approve the
drainage plan and utility easements prior to construction or operation of the project. On Thursday,August
13,2015,Mr. Nelson submitted a follow up email to Weld County Planning stating his concerns that Cactus
Hill's drainage ditches across the USR property may be affected by the project, requesting the following
conditions be noted on the plat:
1. The drainage ditches have a 40-foot easement from the center of the drainage ditch.
2. The duty for maintaining the easement should run with the Property; however in the event
that it is not maintained, the easement owners should be allowed to maintain it at the
expense of the Property owners.
3. That Property owners will abandon their current easements for the shared road and irrigation
ditches on the west side of the Property line, since they no longer intend to irrigate the
property.
Mr. Nelson also indicated in his August 13,2015 email that Water Supply and Storage Co.owns the Larimer
County Canal and had not been notified of the USR Application. These two emails appear as part of the
USR case in the records of the Board of County Commissioners PL 2364.
On August 23, 2015, Chris Gathman, Weld County Planner III responded via email to Mr. Nelson that Mr.
Nelson's comments had been made part of the public record for review and consideration by the Board
of County Commissioners. He misinformed Mr. Nelson that because the ditches Mr. Nelson was
concerned about were private ditches not located on the Cactus Hill parcel, there were no easements in
place on the Property concerning these ditches. Contrary to Mr. Gathman's statements, under Colorado
law, the drainage ditches are legal prescriptive easements. Mr. Gathman advised Mr. Nelson that the
Board of County Commissioners would decide whether the requested conditions would be added at the
hearing. The Hearing Certification for the August 26, 2015 hearing on the USR application reflects that
the applicant agreed to maintain the ditches of concern to Mr. Nelson.
Water Supply and Storage Co.,the owner of the Larimer County Canal, emailed Weld County Planning on
August 24, 2015 that it had only then been able to review the existing site plan for the Project. Based on
the then-existing site plan,presumably that plan dated May 28,2015 in PL2364,Water Supply and Storage
requested that its easements be properly designated to be 50 feet on either side of the ditch, measured
from the high water mark on each side, as is customarily requested for its prescriptive ditch easements.
The USR Resolution does not address the above stated concerns of Cactus Hill. As well, it appears that
the proposed Site Plan only provides Water Supply and Storage Co. a fifty-foot easement for the Larimer
County Canal and not the requested prescriptive easements for maintenance roads.
According to the representations in the USR application that historic flows will not be disturbed, and
according to the site plan of record dated May 28, 2015, construction at the site is in violation of Silicon
Ranch's USR Permit. We are therefore requesting that Weld County suspend the USR Permit No. USR 15-
0032 and prohibit further construction of the site pending the following:
1. That the Southern Drainage Ditch be restored within thirty days of the date of this letter.
2. That Applicant submit its drainage plans to and receive approval of the same by Cactus Hill
within sixty days of the date of this letter.
3. That the USR Plat be amended to show the Southern Drainage Ditch and prescriptive
maintenance easements, being 40-feet from the center of the ditch;
4. That the USR Plat be amended to show the altered Northern Drainage Ditch and associated
maintenance easements in accordance with approved drainage plans.
5. That an agreement be entered into between the Applicant and Cactus Hill and submitted to
the County addressing maintenance of the drainage ditches and abandonment of the existing
shared road and irrigation easements along the north boundary of the USR parcel; and
6. That Water Supply and Storage Co. be consulted regarding erosion, runoff, drainage plans,
tail water, water quality, ditch easements and other potential concerns of Water Supply and
Storage Co. since Water Supply and Storage Co. was not properly notified of the USR
application.
We would be pleased to meet with Weld County officials, representatives of Silicon Ranch, Water Supply
and Storage Co. and Cactus Hill to discuss this matter. However, in light of the fact that Silicon Ranch is
progressing with the construction and has already disrupted drainage flows,and because of current runoff
and drainage issues, we urge this matter be quickly addressed. We look forward to your immediate
response.
Sincerely,
L ND, OTTEN OFF& ROOT, LLP
hrys en S. Hinze
Encl.
Cc: Water Supply and Storage Co.,Attn. Dennis Harmon, Gen. Mgr.
Silicon Ranch Corporation, Attn. Peter Candalaria
PARAGON
CONSULTING GROUP "SERVICE,QI'Al ITY,AND INNOVATION'
1103 oak Park Dry.-,,&d,110
Fort Collin.,CO 805''-5
Phone (9701377 1 000
Faa 197013771880
SENT VIA EMAIL (nelsnelson@skybeam.com)
D.wlh M RAI',P.E-,BCEE
ScoffA RI,1I[FRI P-E.
October 5, 2015 Ba1,KSM,ITII,PE
Blinn C.Wol II ER
t{r-Trl11:9S Ai 'iEMAN
Mr. Nels Nelson D.avinL V(!RIKFF
Cactus Hill Ranch
38990 Highway 257
Fort Collins, Colorado 80524
Re: Review of Silicon Ranch — Corey Solar Array
Weld County USR 15-0032
Severance, Colorado
Project Number 1007053.5
Dear Nels:
The purpose of this letter is to briefly summarize our opinions regarding drainage from your
property onto and through the above-referenced project. We reviewed a number of
documents related to the Use-By-Special-Review (USR) process, made a site visit, discussed
the project with Weld County Planning staff and discussed the project design with Troy
Spraker, P.E. of Lamp Rynearson & Associates. Mr. Spraker indicated that the project
would be developed in phases with the first phase being the northern solar arrays. He also
stated that the second phase would require going through the USR process for that phase.
Stormwater drainage and irrigation tailwater have historically drained generally from your
east property boundary across the proposed Silicon Ranch property. The July 15, 2015
memorandum from Wayne Howard, P.E., Weld County Development Engineer, is divided
into sections entitled Comments, Conditions of Approval, and Development Standards
(Notes on the Site Map). The last item in the Development Standards (Notes on the Site
Map) section is as follows:
4. The historical flow patterns and runo`f amounts will be maintained on the site.(Planning-Engineering)
Two (2) principal drainage structures formerly existed at the border between your property
and the Silicon Ranch property. The first one (southern tailwater ditch) is shown on the May
28, 2015 site plan and is labeled "Existing Tailwater Ditch." The second one (northern
tailwater ditch) is located at the northern end of the property near the existing center pivot.
The southern tailwater ditch conveyed water from the property boundary to the east and
historically discharged into the Larimer County Canal. The northern tailwater ditch
discharged into the former fore bay of the center-pivot sprinkler that was decommissioned on
the Silicon Ranch property. Photos of these structures are shown on the attached photos.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND GEOHYDROLOGY
Mr.Nels Nelson/Cactus Hill Ranch
Project Number 1007053.5 PARAGON
October 5,2015
Page 2
As seen from Photos 1 and 2, the southern tailwater ditch was filled in during grading
operations so it is no longer functional. One of the plan sets shows proposed culverts and
one does not show culverts in this historical ditch. We discussed this situation with Mr.
Spraker and he stated that they were aware of the need to convey water through the property
and a four-foot wide, concrete trickle channel and culverts were planned to convey
stormwater runoff and irrigation tailwater through the property in this area. He also stated
that the developer of the Silicon Ranch property planned to maintain the conveyance
structure. We discussed the fact that this ditch had been filled in and Mr. Spraker stated that
the ditch would be reconstructed prior to the next irrigation season. This may not be
adequate timing since there will likely be stormwater runoff events in the interim.
As seen from Photos 3 and 4, the historical stormwater and tailwater structures have also
been altered such that they will not function in the historical manner. Mr. Spraker indicated
that they intended to reroute the irrigation pipe that connected the fore bay to the Larimer
County Canal to carry these flows. We were unclear of the details regarding the rerouting of
the flows. We believe that the rerouting plan should be reviewed along with the engineering
calculations used for that design.
We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you and hope you find our opinions useful.
Please contact us if ou wish to discuss this matter in more detail or have questions.
Sincere, ,
PAR• 03.1M1 `CI ROUP, INC.
"Cs"
/• — e•cf �
Davi' ' ' Ir&•• ''E: • l Ott
Colorado •
Att: Photos
cc: Chrys Hinze,Esq/LOR(chrys@lorlegal.com)
DMR:dmrl
(FTC)N:12007\PROJECTS\10070531SOLAR FARM DEVELOPMENT\LETTERS\1007053.5 REVIEW OPINION 151005.DOCX
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Photo 4 Northern Tailwater in Pivot Pond Looking West
LIND, OTTI\HOFF
0 ,, & ROOT L,LI Kenneth F. Lind
Attorneys at Law George H. Ottenhoff
John D. Root
355 Eastman Park Dr., Ste. 200 • Windsor, CO 80550
Telephone: (970) 674-9888 • Fax: (970) 674-9535
Chrysten S. Hinze
Email. chrys@lorlegal.com
October 13, 2015
Bruce Barker, Esq.
Weld County Attorney
1150 O Street
P.O. Box 758
Greeley, CO 80632
Weld County Commissioners
1150 O Street �
P.O. Box 758 !7 R CeiveD
Greeley, CO 80632 U
OCT
5
. zoo
Weld County Planning Dept. W
5
155 N. 17th Avenue COMM, S nUh11°
Greeley, CO 80631
Attn: Chris Gathman, Planner Ill
RE: VIOLATION OF SITE SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND USE BY SPECIAL REVIEW PERMIT, USR15-0032, FOR
ANY USE PERMITTED AS A USE BY RIGHT,ACCESSORY USE, OR USE BY SPECIAL REVIEW IN THE COMMERCIAL OR
INDUSTRIAL ZONE DISTRICTS (SOLAR ARRAY FARM), PROVIDED THAT THE PROPERTY IS NOT A LOT ON AN
APPROVED OR RECORDED SUBDIVISION PLAT OR PART OF A MAP OR PLAN FILED PRIOR TO ADOPTION OF ANY
REGULATIONS CONTROLING IN THE A(AGRICULTURAL)ZONE DISTRICT-SILICON RANCH COPRORATION
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This letter is to supplement our letter sent October 9,2015 concerning the above-referenced matter. We
are advised that Silicon Ranch was granted a permit by the County to start grading the project prior to
recording the USR Plat in part because, pursuant to Silicon Ranch's drainage plan and analysis on file with
the County, historic flows would not be disturbed. This clearly was a misrepresentation made by Silicon
Ranch to the County, based on its actual grading of the USR site to date.
Additionally, pursuant to our inquiry today of the Weld County Planning and Building Department,we are
advised that no building permits have issued to Silicon Ranch concerning this USR. However, we are
advised that Silicon Ranch has installed the rails and numerous solar arrays, presumably without proper
County approval and presumably in contravention of its USR permit.
��a3LDL/
As stated in our October 9, 2015 letter, we believe a meeting with County Officials, and authorized
representatives of Silicon Ranch, Cactus Hill and Water Supply & Storage could progress to remedy this
situation. In light of these recent developments, we urge an expedient scheduling of this matter as well
as the immediate cessation of further construction of the site.
Sincerely,
LI p, OTTENHOFF& ROOT, LLP
1
Y
Chr st n S. Hine
Encl.
Cc: Water Supply and Storage Co.,Attn. Dennis Harmon, Gen. Mgr.
Silicon Ranch Corporation, Attn. Peter Candalaria
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