John Scarffe, Black Hawk.  The Black Hawk City Council reviewed the city’s three-mile plan and then heard proposals to annex 11 properties in the Quartz Valley and Maryland Mountain area during its regular meeting on Wednesday, November 11, at 3 p.m., at 211 Church Street. The Council needed to update its three-mile plan detailing the City’s planned growth area before annexing the Quartz Valley property.

The City of Black Hawk is required to adopt a three-mile plan for purposes of considering an annexation proposal, to be updated at least once annually, according to the staff’s request for action. In the past the City has adopted and reaffirmed the Intergovernmental Agreement dated September 29, 1999, between the City of Black Hawk, the City of Central, the County of Gilpin and the Black Hawk-Central City Sanitation District as the City of Black Hawk three-mile plan.

City Attorney Corey Hoffmann told the Council that the city uses the 1999 IGA because it is more comprehensive than any other city plan but it needs to be updated for 2015. Central City and Black Hawk desire to establish areas described as growth areas, which includes the establishment of roads and phased development of services and facilities, according to the IGA.

The Plan describes growth areas for Central City and Black Hawk and allows the cities’ expansion into those areas, including Quartz Valley as a growth area for Black Hawk. The Council approved the updated three-mile plan and Intergovernmental Agreement.

Vincent Harris with Baseline Corporation presented a request to annex 11 properties in the Quartz Valley and Maryland Mountain area. City Attorney Corey Hoffmann said these are all municipally owned properties, and the City sent the required notification to all parties regarding the annexation and received no comments.

In April 2013, the City of Black Hawk increased its territory by approximately 436 acres by approving the Quartz Valley/Maryland Mountain annexations. Since the last annexations were approved in 2013, the City has acquired additional parcels in the Quartz Valley/Maryland Mountain area, according to background information.

Further, in May 2015 the City approved an ordinance disconnecting a small portion of land from the City. Approximately 4.12 acres was removed from the City.

The additional parcels are proposed to be annexed to the City to “fill in many of the gaps.” The City Council may annex city-owned territory by ordinance, according to background.

In this case 11 annexations are proposed, titled Quartz Valley/Maryland Mountain 2015 Annexations No. 1 through 11. Each annexation individually meets state standards for contiguity to the current City boundary.

Some of the annexations will annex enclaves of unincorporated territory. The rest of the annexations will extend the City’s boundaries while remaining within the agreed upon Growth Area Boundary per the 1999 Intergovernmental Agreement with Central City and Gilpin County.

The parcels are located in unincorporated Gilpin County, and each annexation is made up of portions of a single or multiple mining claims owned by the City. The Council approved the annexations.

Per the City of Black Hawk City Charter and Municipal Code, when land is annexed into the City it must be subsequently zoned as well, according to a request before the Council. Approximately 30.87 acres were just annexed through the Quartz Valley/Maryland Mountain 2015 Annexations No. 1 through No. 11.

Per the recommendation of the City Attorney and discussion with other City Staff, it is recommended that the property be zoned into the History Appreciation Recreation Destination (HARD) zoning district. All of the property being annexed is adjacent to other property zoned HARD.

The HARD zoning district is for land that is owned by the City for a public use. The permitted uses in the district include public office buildings, public parking lots, nature center, picnic area, trailhead, trails, water storage facilities, including reservoirs allowing for passive and active recreation, and public pedestrian malls, including retail facilities on said malls, regardless of whether such facilities are publicly owned so long as they are dedicated to a public use.

The Council approved zoning the annexed land into the HARD district. The next meeting of the Black Hawk City Council will be at 3 p.m. on December 2, 2015, at 211 Church Street.