{"id":42409,"date":"2022-02-03T02:39:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T02:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-drops-lawsuit-for-noncompliance-of-land-use-code\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:06:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:06:58","slug":"montezuma-county-drops-lawsuit-for-noncompliance-of-land-use-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-drops-lawsuit-for-noncompliance-of-land-use-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County drops lawsuit for noncompliance of land-use code"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A property on Road 21 had too many unauthorized, occupied dwellings in violation of the Montezuma County land-use code. After the owner made a significant effort to come into compliance, the county decided to dismiss a lawsuit. (Courtesy of Montezuma County)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Montezuma County decided Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit against a property owner for alleged violations of the land-use code because significant progress had been made toward compliance.<\/p>\n

In August, the county filed a complaint against Terry Belden for suspected violations on his 4.7-acre property at 6330 County Road 21.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleged the property did not have a permit for multiple occupied RVs and mobile homes, lacked adequate septic systems, and violated setbacks. A trial was set for Feb. 24 in county court.<\/p>\n

According to the county land-use code, properties under 35 acres are allowed to have one primary residence and one accessory residence connected to an adequate septic system.<\/p>\n

Any more residences requires a permit for a subdivision, planned-unit development or RV park.<\/p>\n

The county commissioners were notified of the suspected violations in April, said Planning Director Don Haley. County staff and the health department conducted on-site inspections and met with Belden about land-use code regulations.<\/p>\n

Belden said during a July 20 commissioner meeting that he rents the land and does not live on the property.<\/p>\n

He informed the commissioners that he had evicted people who were living in several unauthorized trailers and RVs, and was working on becoming compliant with the land-use code.<\/p>\n

He said old trailers and RVs were removed as well as debris piles. Sheds were relocated to meet setback rules.<\/p>\n

During Tuesday\u2019s commissioner meeting, county attorney Ian MacLaren informed the commissioners that while the property was not in \u201cperfect\u201d compliance, the \u201cmajority\u201d of the land-use code issues had been resolved.<\/p>\n

Commissioners unanimously agreed the lawsuit should be dismissed, and put a March 1 deadline for full compliance to be met.<\/p>\n

By that date, an unauthorized recreation vehicle being used as a residence is supposed to be removed, leaving a primary and accessory residence in place. No fines were issued for land-use code noncompliance.<\/p>\n

There has been a \u201cgood-faith\u201d effort by the landowner to meet the code, said County Commissioner Kent Lindsay.<\/p>\n

Another court case could be brought if compliance is not met, county officials said.<\/p>\n

Fines for noncompliance of the land-use code can be up to $1,000 per day based on state statutes, MacLaren said.<\/p>\n

The county commission and planning department have made it a priority to bring properties into compliance with the land-use code.<\/p>\n

Haley said the process includes sending a letter detailing noncompliance issues, working with the landowner on a timeline to get into compliance and conducting inspections when necessary.<\/p>\n

Abandoned and deteriorated trailer homes can be problematic for property owners in the county, Haley said, because they are often used illegally as residences.<\/p>\n

According to the Montezuma County landfill, trailer homes are accepted for a fee if they are asbestos-free. The landfill requires a title and 24-hour notice prior to accepting a trailer home.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Property owner made significant progress to comply with rules, officials say<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,193,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-land-use","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85327,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42409\/revisions\/85327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42409"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}