Portions of northeastern Gilpin County are adjacent to the south boundary of the Planning Area. Gilpin County has seen significant changes in land use in the past ten years, particularly with the beginning of legal, limited stakes gambling in Black Hawk and Central City. Development pressures have spread out from these cities. Gilpin County is a highly attractive residential and recreational area at the edge of the Denver/Boulder metropolitan area. County government has very limited resources to provide public services and extensive planning regulations comparable to adjacent counties.
According to the Demography Section of the Colorado Division of Local Affairs, the population in Gilpin County increased 32% from April of 1990 to July of 1997. Total population in 1997 is estimated at 4,058. In 1992 the County had 80 subdivisions with approximately 70% of the lots vacant (Gilpin County 1992). As of 1998 there were at least 2,000 vacant residential lots. The County is promoting "boundary line elimination" in situations where a property owner may own two or more adjacent lots. These lots may be consolidated into one parcel with one legal building site, and the property owner will have reduced property taxes.
Gilpin County has adopted a Master Plan (Gilpin County 1992). Recommended land use patterns adjacent to the Planning Area are 1) "low density" residential from the Peak-to-Peak Highway east past Pinecliff, and 2) at the northeastern corner of the County. Low density housing is equivalent to rural residential development, with minimum average density of three acres per dwelling unit. The natural resource land use designation recognizes areas with significant mineral, agricultural and/or forest resources. It is the intent of the Master Plan to recognize “resource areas” in which the County should preserve opportunities for the development and use of these resources by limiting the development of land uses which could conflict with the primary resource use. Land uses in “resource areas” are not explained in detail, but typically include mining and timber harvest.
 |
 |
 |
 |