5E882F33B6BC69F4872586400058987B Hearing Summary

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For LLS 21-0194: UNIF EASEMENT RELOCATION ACT

JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON COLORADO COMMISSION ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS
Date Dec 16, 2020
Location HCR 0112

LLS 21-0194: Unif Easement Relocation Act - To be introduced as a Commission Bill

Attachment Tag

File Name

Attachment

21-0194-20201112.pdf

09:07:43 AM

Amy Brimah, Colorado
Bar Association (CBA) Real Estates Section, stated that under current
Colorado law, a court order is required for relocations in the absence
of an agreement of the property owners, the same as in the Act. The Colorado
Supreme Court adopted the Third Restatement rule in the ditch relocation
case, Roaring Fork Club LP v. St. Jude Company, 36 P.3rd 1229 (Colo.
2001). Relocation under Roaring Fork without a court order is considered
trespass, with subsequent penalties. The uniform act contains no penalty
for relocation without an order. The Act may provide some incremental improvement
to Colorado law but it does not improve the situations under Roaring
Fork. The section does not have a formal position, but does have concerns
with moving the Act forward. The commission asked whether adding Colorado-specific
provisions regarding the consequences of relocating without a court order
or providing for other damages would address the section's concerns. Ms.
Brimah answered that she anticipated that the water law section would not
be in favor of passing the Act.

09:22:52 AM

Andrew White, CBA
Director of Legislative Relations, added that Roaring Fork has
been settled case law for 19 years providing guidance across all property
law in Colorado and enacting the uniform act may cause new litigation of
provisions or other unintended consequences. The commission discussed that
although the legal and real estate communities may be aware of the case
law requirements regarding relocations, private citizens may not be. It
would benefit everyone to codify Roaring Fork so that anyone could
more readily ascertain the legal requirements for relocation. The commission
acknowledged that there would be opposition to the Act. Commissioner Gardner
agreed to speak with the Colorado Water Congress to explain the Act and
that this Act does not constitute a significant change to current law.
The commission thanked the CBA for their time and comments on the Act.

09:40:20 AM

Commissioner Gardner moved to introduce
LLS 21-0194: Uniform Easement Relocation Act as a commission bill, with
any technical amendments needed, and urged a "No" vote. Commissioner
Mielke seconded and the motion passed 5-4. Commissioner Gardner agreed
to sponsor the bill and start it in the Senate.

09:40:21 AM	Motion	Moved to introduce LLS 21-0194: Uniform Easement Relocation Act as a commission bill, with any technical amendments needed, and urged a "No" vote.
	Moved	Gardner
	Seconded

	Alicia Duran	Yes
	Thomas Grimshaw	Excused
	Donald Mielke	Yes
	Thomas Morris	Yes
	Charley Pike	Yes
	Sara Scott	Yes
	Tipper	No
	Joseph Whitfield	No
	Gardner	No
	Claire Levy	No
		YES: 5 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

LLS 21-0194: Unif Easement Relocation Act - To be introduced as a Commission Bill

Colorado General Assembly