Colorado § 30-15-401.5 - Fire safety standards.

§ 30-15-401.5. Fire safety standards.

(1) In addition to any other powers granted by the general assembly, the board of county commissioners of each county has the power to adopt ordinances to provide for minimum fire safety standards which shall be modeled upon those contained in the uniform fire code, including the table of contents, indices, appendices, and tables, as promulgated by the international conference of building officials, the international fire code institute, and the western fire chiefs association.

(2) A board of county commissioners may adopt such ordinances only after it has approved the formation of and received the recommendations of a permanent commission, to be known as the fire code adoption and revision commission. The commission shall consist of the board or its designees, the fire chiefs whose departments or districts lie partially or wholly within the portion of the affected county encompassed by the proposed fire code, and such other members as the board may appoint. Members of the commission appointed by the board shall serve at the pleasure of the board. Members of the commission shall receive no compensation or reimbursement of expenses for their services on the commission.

(3) Such ordinances shall apply to all or a portion of the unincorporated area of the county and any incorporated town or city which elects by ordinance or resolution to have the provisions thereof apply.

(4) A fire protection district or county improvement district providing fire protection services may propose fire code provisions for its district that may be different from the minimum fire safety standards adopted by the county. Such provisions shall be effective within the petitioning fire protection district or county improvement district providing fire protection services only upon the approval of the board.

(5) No fire code provisions adopted pursuant to this section shall apply within any municipality unless the governing body of the municipality adopts a resolution stating that such provisions shall be applicable within its boundaries.

(6) The provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall not apply to farms or ranches.

(7) Fire protection districts organized pursuant to article 1 of title 32, C.R.S., and county improvement districts providing fire protection services organized pursuant to part 5 of article 20 of this title shall enforce the fire safety standards adopted by county ordinances within the fire district's jurisdiction. The county commissioners may contract with an enforcement agency for areas of the county not receiving fire protection.

(8) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the validity of any ordinance adopted by a board of county commissioners before July 1, 1985.

(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a board of county commissioners to provide fire protection services to any area of the county or to require a board of county commissioners to adopt fire safety standards.

(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no fire protection district shall prohibit the sale of permissible fireworks, as defined in section 24-33.5-2001 (11), within its jurisdiction.

Source: L. 85: Entire section added, p. 1061, § 1, effective July 1. L. 90: (4) and (7) amended, p. 1459, § 3, effective March 22. L. 96: (1) amended and (10) added, p. 282, § 1, effective April 11. L. 2007: (10) amended, p. 493, § 3, effective August 3. L. 2017: (10) amended, (SB 17-222), ch. 245, p. 1028, § 5, effective August 9.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "The Lawyer's Role in Fire Code Enforcement Actions", see 24 Colo. Law. 2201 (1995).

Trial court erred in determining that county possesses requisite authority to require that private access road across ranch parcels comply with county's fire code and its access requirements. The "farms or ranches" exception to the provisions of subsection (3) found in subsection (6) does not refer to access, roads, or the purposes thereof. Instead, it refers to the use or status of the land. If the land traversed by the road currently satisfies the "farms or ranches" exception, then so long as the fundamental character of the land does not change in a manner that would make the exception inapplicable, the county may not regulate the road under § 30-15-401 (1). Zweygardt v. Bd. of County Comm'rs of Elbert County, 190 P.3d 848 (Colo. App. 2008).

Whether a private road that begins at a public road, crosses various parcels, and dead-ends on private land may be regulated in its entirety or not at all should be determined by the predominant use of the private land that it crosses. The predominant use of these various parcels may change, which will affect whether, at some point in time, the county can require the entire road to comply with its fire code, although some parcels may still meet the "farm and ranch" exception. Zweygardt v. Bd. of County Comm'rs of Elbert County, 190 P.3d 848 (Colo. App. 2008).