CONEJOS - After a Conejos County Planning Commission meeting Wednesday evening Feb. 24, no suit or court action was in the offing.

After an inspector pointed out that Michael Sisneros and his wife Naomi had no building permit for a storage shed they had begun to put up, the couple paid $200 for the document.

Only one sticky point remained. Sisneros desired the building to be closer to the back of the farm than county zoning rules allow for rural lots. The rule calls for a 40-foot space, and the plan was to construct with only a ten-foot gap. So was the county or landowner forced to go to a court ruling to get a desired outcome?

No. The couple applied for a variance, costing $250, without a guarentee of a favorable outcome. But after carefully presenting reasons for the request and answering safety questions from Planning Commission members, unanimous approval was given for the desired change.

No additional penalties were assessed.

After the first item on the agenda for Wednesday Feb. 24 meeting was peacefully concluded, commissioners and a few citizens discussed "1041 rules" the agency hopes to enact to adequately regulate placement of new, potentially environmentally disturbing business looking to operate in the county.

By the end of May, a six-month moratorium the county has placed on new energy transmission units such as solar and wind power, and recycling businesses, (an example is new gravel pits) will expire. By that time, after work sessions by the planning commission and at least two public forums seeking input from both north and south portions of Conejos County, the widely shared hope is that county officials will be able to pass a new set of rules helping to "avoid overregulation" as Planning Commissioner Armando Valdez said, but also keep the positive aspects such as good tourism drawing ability, a positive business environment and low taxes.

The two Planning Commission work sessions are scheduled for Wednesdays March 10 and March 17, followed by public forums on the 1041 land use regulations so far unscheduled.

An ambition presented by several commission members, including Carolyn Koozer and Valdez is to study the various forms of 1041 rules adopted by many of Colorado's 64 counties. That step would allow Conejos County to gauge the effects of those new regulations on other areas of the state, and redesign for the most desirable results here.

("Cut and paste" is he phrase used by Valdez.)

County Commissioner John Sandoval sat in on the meeting and offered to obtain a copy of the Alamosa County regulations as one format to study by county officials. He did that Friday, Feb. 26. Among several others, Eagle County regulations were also suggested as of interest to study. Eagle, the county seat of that area, is 147 miles west of central Denver. That county is home to the White River National Forest and some of the most mountainous areas of the state.

The town of Eagle is a short distance south of Interstate 70,