Garfield County's Rural Land Development Exemption (RLDE) Process

The density formula, and how an RLDE application actually gets processed

Garfield County's Land Use and Development Code (LUDC), Article 5 (Divisions of Land), sets the Rural Land Development Exemption's density formula: a parcel under 70 acres can create one new lot per 17.5 acres, a parcel of 70 acres or more can create one lot per 35 acres, and additional bonus lots become available at each further 100-acre increment. An RLDE application is processed according to the review track and submittal requirements set out in the LUDC's application tables, and -- notably -- the code groups RLDE review with the standards that also apply to full subdivisions and planned unit developments (PUDs) for certain criteria, rather than treating it as a lighter-weight process across the board.

That distinction matters in practice: RLDE saves you from the county's full subdivision review process, but it does not exempt a proposed land division from every underlying development standard. Garfield County's own application resource guide compiles the fee schedule, process flow charts, and template documents for LUDC applications generally, and RLDE-specific submittal requirements are set out in Article 5 -- pull the current version of both directly from Community Development before you plan a specific lot layout around this exemption, since a self-calculated lot count based only on the acreage formula can miss a review requirement that changes what's actually approvable.

The water-adequacy requirement: the Board of County Commissioners has to be satisfied, not just you

Under the LUDC, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) cannot approve an RLDE or any other land division application unless it determines that the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposed water supply for the new lots will be adequate. This is a real approval gate, not a formality: it means an RLDE application has to come with actual evidence of a legally and physically adequate water supply for each resulting lot -- typically involving well-permit feasibility, water-rights documentation, or a water-supply plan -- before the BOCC will sign off, independent of whatever informal assurance a seller might give about "plenty of water" on the property.

If you're the one pursuing an RLDE on land you already own, build the water-supply analysis into your project timeline early, since it can be the long pole in the process. If you're buying a parcel that a previous owner already split off through RLDE, ask directly what water-supply documentation was submitted and approved for that specific lot -- an RLDE-created lot's water situation was reviewed by the county at the time of the split, and that history is worth pulling rather than assuming a well permit will simply follow from the lot existing.

Access and roadway standards apply too

Beyond water, RLDE review criteria in the LUDC address access and roadway standards for the resulting lots -- meaning a proposed split also has to demonstrate legal and physically adequate access to a public or approved private road, not just meet the acreage math. If a larger parcel you're considering for a future RLDE split has any ambiguity in its access -- a shared driveway, an unrecorded easement, or reliance on a neighbor's road -- resolve that access question with Community Development before you count on being able to split the parcel later, since an access problem can block an otherwise formula-eligible RLDE application just as effectively as an inadequate water supply can.