HB 17-1166

House Bill 17-1166, which has been signed into law, aims to ensure that businesses have reasonable access to and from public highways. This means that when the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) develops rules for highway access, they must consider providing fair access for nearby businesses. If a business is denied access due to these rules and this denial would prevent them from operating effectively, it could be considered a taking under eminent domain laws, which might require compensation from the government. This bill affects both CDOT and local governments as well as any business located near public highways in Colorado.

Official Summary

The bill adds public convenience and the provision of reasonable access to and from public highways and adjoining businesses to the existing purposes for which the department of transportation (CDOT) and local governments are authorized to regulate access to public highways and specifically requires the provision of reasonable access to and from public highways and adjoining businesses to be considered in the development by CDOT of a state highway access code (code). The bill also specifies that if failure to grant a variance from the code would deny reasonable access to or from a business adjoining a divided state highway and the far side of the divided state highway, the denial may amount to a taking that requires just compensation under constitutional and statutory provisions pertaining to eminent domain. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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