Court Opinion

ID: 9631759
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:49:27.504604+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:08:00.942433
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE KELLEY
dissenting.
My disagreement with the majority stems from my belief that the state has not delegated to the counties the power to set up mineral conservation districts through use of their zoning powers.
A county is a political subdivision of the state. As such it possesses only the powers expressly conferred upon it by the state constitution and statutes, plus the implied powers reasonably necessary to carry out the express powers. Board of County Commissioners of Dolores County v. Love, 172 Colo. 121, 470 P.2d 861 (1970). The majority feels that the general language in 1967 Perm. Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 106-2-12, grants the specific power to establish mineral conservation districts. I cannot agree. By its terms, 1967 Perm. Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 106-2-12, does not specifically grant the power to create mineral conservation districts to counties, and such power cannot be inferred from any of the granted powers.
The policy statement by the legislature contained in 1969 Perm. Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 3-15-3, wherein “the full develop*341ment of the state’s natural resources to the benefit of all the citizens of Colorado” (not just those of Adams County) shows the intention of the General Assembly to not delegate the responsibility of mineral conservation to counties, but provides that this responsibility be retained by the state and be carried out by the department of natural resources. Further, one of that department’s divisions, the Colorado geological survey, is specifically charged to,
“coordinate and encourage by use of appropriate means the full development of the state’s natural resources, as the same are related to the geological processes that affect realistic development of human and mineral utilization and conservation practices and needs in the state of Colorado, all of which are designed to result in an ultimate benefit to the citizens of the state.”
The legislature having expressly relegated the responsibility of conservation of natural resources to the state, it is difficult for me to understand how the delegation of that responsibility can be inferred from the language of 106-2-12.