Land and acreage in Elbert County

Outside the towns of Elizabeth, Kiowa and Simla, Elbert County is the local government, and its Community and Development Services department handles zoning, land use and building permits. A parcel smaller than 35 acres goes through the county’s subdivision review, which is why so much land here was divided at exactly that size.

Most new construction, remodels and repairs need a building permit. Barns and garages go through the county’s accessory structure checklist, and the only exemption is for a one-story, non-commercial detached building of 200 square feet or less with no utilities. A shop or barn you plan to put up is a permit conversation, and so is one already standing that has no permit on file.

If the parcel is near Elizabeth, the Elizabeth area guide covers what changes once you are inside the town limits, where the town supplies water and sewer.

The county’s Zoning Regulations (Amendment 5, Article IV) sort rural land into an agricultural context and a residential agriculture context. In the first, the A district has a 35 acre minimum lot size, A-2 has 20 acres and AR has 10. In the second, RA has 10 acres, RA-1 has 5 and RA-2 has 2.5.

You may still see A-1 on an older document. It was merged into the A district in 2011 and the county no longer rezones land to it. Minimum lot widths run from 500 feet in A down to 100 feet in RA-2, and buildings in all of these districts are limited to 35 feet.

The district on a parcel decides what can be built and how the land can be divided later. Ask Community and Development Services to confirm it in writing rather than relying on the listing.

Well permits in Elbert County are issued by the State of Colorado, not the county. On a parcel under 35 acres outside a cluster development, the standard exempt permit allows household use inside one home and no outdoor use at all. The well permit guide explains how to pull and read the permit on a specific well.

Where a well draws from the Denver Basin aquifers, which the state describes as not renewable, the county’s 2024 Water Master Plan applies a 300-year rule to that groundwater, and notes that on the Upper Dawson aquifer a new well needs an augmentation plan unless the lot existed before 1972 or is larger than 35 acres. On bare land that can decide whether a well is available at all.

Since 2015 the county has run a well monitoring program with the U.S. Geological Survey, tracking Denver Basin water levels. Its page is worth reading if the parcel will depend on a well.

Septic systems are permitted by Elbert County Public Health, under a county regulation that incorporates the state’s Regulation 43. An application for a new system includes the system design, soils information, test pit logs and a site plan, and a Colorado licensed engineer has to design it where, for example, a limiting layer or bedrock sits within four feet of the surface, the slope exceeds 20 percent, or the system uses pressure distribution.

A new septic permit expires after a year if construction has not started, which matters if you are buying land to build on later.

On a parcel that already has a house, the county requires an inspection less than twelve months old and a Use Permit when ownership changes. The septic Use Permit guide covers that process and what happens when a system needs repairs.

Elbert County maintains about 1,100 miles of gravel road and 380 miles of asphalt, and its snow removal covers accepted county roads. A private road is somebody else’s to maintain. Road and Bridge issues residential access permits and private road permits, and an access built in the public right-of-way without a permit is subject to a stop work order. The guide to rural access and easements covers recorded easements and maintenance agreements.

The county’s emergency management office publishes wildfire preparedness guidance, including the state’s Home Ignition Zone guide, which works outward from the house in three zones: 0 to 5 feet, 5 to 30 feet and 30 to 100 feet. Burn restrictions are posted on the county’s burn restriction page. Get an insurance quote early rather than at closing.