Commission considers mandatory follow‑up for land‑disturbance permits; adds review fields to permit forms

The Castle Valley Planning and Land Use Commission on April 2 discussed adding post‑construction follow‑up and sign‑off to land‑disturbance approvals and requested staff drafts for May consideration.

Why it matters: Currently, applicants submit plans and receive land‑disturbance approvals, but larger projects commonly lack documented follow‑up to confirm work was completed according to the approved plan. Commissioners said the absence of any required completion signature or inspection makes enforcement difficult.

Commissioners described several options: require a completion review within a set period (30 days after completion was suggested), add an “office use only” block on forms with checkboxes for “follow‑up required” and “follow‑up completed,” or make follow‑up discretionary for minor projects and required for major projects. Staff noted the fee schedule already provides for charging extra time in enforcement or follow‑up cases but the permit forms do not include a place to record completion inspections.

One commissioner summarized the problem: “There is no secondary thing to say they’ve actually done it. There’s no follow‑up,” and asked staff to propose concrete wording and a form change to add a completion review signature and date (Commissioner, speaker 4).

Because staff did not have final ordinance or form language available, the commission voted to table the item and asked staff to return with proposed edits to the LDA (land‑disturbance) section and associated forms (including Form B for major permits) so the changes can be considered concurrently with WUI ordinance edits.

Next steps: Staff will draft suggested ordinance language and form revisions (add office use box, checkbox for follow‑up required, and a completion review/signature field) and return them to the commission for the May meeting.