(COSTILLA COUNTY, Colo.) — Attorney General Phil Weiser is speaking up about Costilla County’s right to enforce its land use laws and backing the county in its current legal battle to stop a ranch fence.
On Tuesday, March 4, Attorney General Weiser filed a court brief to back the county’s decision to stop the construction of a large, unauthorized fence on Cielo Vista Ranch. According to the Attorney General, the fence at Cielo Vista Ranch, also known as La Sierra, blocks the community from exercising their historic rights under the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant of 1844. The grant guarantees them access to the land to graze livestock and gather wood.
The fence also allegedly threatens the environment by restricting wildfire mitigation and affecting local water sources.
According to court documents, the ranch’s fence ‘the High Fence’ violates Costilla County’s current land use ordinances, and is classified as ‘non-conforming’. This means that landowners cannot get special exceptions to zoning rules unless they can prove that their use of the land was legal before the rules changed.
Expanding a nonconforming use is allowed only if certain legal requirements are met. However, Attorney General Weiser argues that the ranch owner failed to prove a legal right to continue the fence construction.
“Local communities like Costilla County have the power to decide how land is used, and their decisions must be respected,” said Weiser. “In this case, the county carefully followed the law in denying this request, acting to protect the community’s longstanding connection to the land and the traditions that depend on it. We have heard directly from residents about how this fence has disrupted their daily lives, cultural practices, and access to essential resources. We are standing with Costilla County and its residents to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are upheld.”
Weiser’s filing urges the court to affirm the county’s authority to enforce zoning laws. According to the filing, in order for the request to be classified as “nonconforming” Cielo Vista Ranch must have:
Complied with all applicable laws to qualify as nonconforming use, not merely the local zoning code.
According to court documents, Cielo Vista Ranch failed to do so. In addition, uses of land that violate State law cannot be protected as nonconforming uses.
Demonstrate that construction of the high fence was lawful at the time Costilla County’s fence ordinances changed.
“Approving such a request would be inconsistent with the requirement that the expansion
of a nonconforming use must have been clearly indicated or contemplated, as well as the general disfavor in which nonconforming uses are held,” court documents stated.
