Commentary and Analysis Regarding Colorado Law

Barefoot Lakes

Lyons Gaddis represents Brookfield Residential and its affiliates in connection with the 1,300 acre Barefoot Lakes master planned community located adjacent to the St. Vrain River and immediately east of I-25 in Firestone, Colorado. With over 1,000 homes already built or under construction, when completed, Barefoot Lakes will contain a new residential community consisting of over 3,500 single-family homes, 100 acres of lakes, miles of trails, new regional water and wastewater utility systems, new regional roadways, and 350 acres of parks, trails, and open spaces for public use. Lyons Gaddis attorneys Cameron Grant, Suzan Fritchel, Jeff Kahn, and Sean Stewart assisted Brookfield Residential with entitlements on the project, including the annexation of the property to Firestone, preparation and approval of Planned Development zoning, subdivision platting, and third-party negotiations crucial to project success. Several of the unique components of this complex land use and development project are summarized below:

Colorado real estate practitioners have seen the addition of oil and gas notification provisions in the real estate approved forms for the purchase and sale of real property.  In bold face type, the buyer is warned that the surface estate may be owned separately from the underlying mineral estate and that the purchase of the surface may not include the minerals.  The buyer is further advised so that there may be a surface use agreement in place, that there may be oil and gas activity on the property or on adjacent property and that it is advisable to seek out additional information from the COGCC.  As of January 1, 2016, these disclosures were mandated by statute to be part of all residential purchase and sale contracts, i.e., not only in those approved by the Colorado Real Estate Commission.  For recommended language, see:  http://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-35-7-108.html

Submitted by Cameron Grant.

Just when you thought you had heard enough about fracking, western courts are getting into the action.  First, the Colorado Supreme Court is set to take up the issue of local v. state control in the case between the City of Longmont and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.  Next, the Wall Street Journal reports that a federal judge in Wyoming blocked  Interior Department rules setting stricter standards for hydraulic fracturing on public lands, the second set of major regulations from the Obama administration to be faulted in court in as many months.  It seems that we will have some judicial guidance on the fracking issue in the near future.  Stay tuned . . .

Submitted by John Gaddis

Even with the ups and downs of oil prices, the oil and gas boom in Colorado is continuing. However, if you own land that has an existing oil and gas lease but there is no development of the minerals on your property, what do you do? Does a landowner have any recourse to require the lease holder to explore, develop and produce the minerals? Can the landowner seek to cancel the existing lease and negotiate a new one?

Submitted by Cameron A. Grant

Recently the Denver Post reported that Boulder County could be liable for $1 billion in petro “takings” if local governments adopt and enforce bans on the drilling practice called fracking.  On June 24th, voters in the City of Loveland rejected a measure that would have extended a moratorium on drilling in the city limits.  Clearly, the issues surrounding oil and gas development in Colorado are heating up.  Sensational claims continue to be made during this energetic election season.  The potential threat of petro takings is one such claim.