Adams County Project Review Process

The Adams County project review process for unincorporated land starts with a conceptual review: a voluntary pre-application step where you submit a short checklist, county staff from several disciplines review your concept, and you get written comments before a virtual meeting and a summary letter after it. Skip it only if you already know your zoning, access, drainage, water and sewer answers.

What is the Adams County conceptual review?

It is a pre-application meeting where county staff tell you which requirements, standards and procedures apply to your proposal before you file a formal land use application.

The county's Conceptual Review Process and Application packet says major problems can be identified and solved at this stage, before a formal application goes in. The meeting is voluntary, but staff highly encourage it.

The county's Planning and Development division is responsible for land uses in the unincorporated portions of the county, and it tells applicants to start with a zoning verification or a conceptual review application through the ePermit Center. If your parcel is inside a city's limits, ask that city about its own review.

What are the four steps of the conceptual review?

Submittal, staff review, the meeting and a written response. On the county's typical schedule, that is about four weeks from application to response letter.

1. Submittal. You upload every checklist item and the fee to the ePermit Center. Staff check that the submittal is complete, and only then schedule the meeting.
2. Staff review. A Project Manager, your contact from here on, sends the concept to other county departments and some external referral agencies. You get all comments and the meeting link five days before the meeting.
3. Meeting. It is typically held three weeks after the county receives the application, online, on Wednesday mornings between 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. Planners, engineers, building plan reviewers and environmental analysts take part, and the Project Manager outlines next steps.
4. Response. Final comments arrive one week after the meeting. The letter names the submittal requirements for your formal application and lists referral agency comments.

What do you need to submit for a conceptual review?

Five items: the development application form, the application fee, a written explanation, a conceptual site plan and a statement of how you intend to serve the site with water and sewer.

The written explanation describes the project's purpose and the improvements you plan. The form asks for the parcel number, site area, existing zoning, existing and proposed land use, and the owner's signature. The site plan is a scaled drawing of existing and proposed improvements, showing:

• Streets, roads and intersections
• Driveways, access points and parking areas
• Existing and proposed structures, wells and septic systems
• Easements, utility lines, and no-build or hazardous areas
• Scale, north arrow and date of preparation

The more detail you provide, the more feedback staff can give. Proof of ownership, taxes paid and utility service are not on this checklist; they belong to formal applications.

Why does the water and sewer statement matter?

Because a concept sketch cannot hide a missing utility answer, and formal applications such as a major subdivision ask you to prove it.

The county's major subdivision preliminary plat packet shows what proof means. For public utilities, a written statement from the water and sanitation district that it will serve the property, or a current bill. For private utilities, well permit information from the Colorado Division of Water Resources and a written statement from the Adams County Health Department on whether onsite wastewater treatment systems are viable.

There is a third case: no district can serve the site, and the wastewater will exceed 2,000 gallons per day. Colorado's Regulation 22 site location and design rules (5 CCR 1002-22) cover domestic wastewater treatment works designed to receive more than 2,000 gallons per day (section 22.1(2)), including an onsite system that size (section 22.2(21)). Under section 22.6(2), a new plant's site application goes to local agencies before the state, including the county for a plant in unincorporated territory and any city or town within three miles, and each has 60 days to comment. That track runs beside the county's land use review, as our post on the CDPHE site application and discharge permit steps explains.

So use the conceptual review to ask the direct questions. Whose service area is this? Does the district have capacity? Will septic work at this density? If you cannot answer those before you submit, a site feasibility study will.

What happens after the conceptual review?

You file the formal applications the response letter identifies, using the county's checklist for each one.

The county's submittal checklists page holds the packets for rezonings, planned unit developments, use permits, subdivisions and engineering reviews. Land use cases go in as PDFs with scalable, legible drawings, and review does not start until your payment is verified.

A major subdivision shows how much the bar rises. The county uses it to divide parcels of 20 acres or more or to create five or more lots, and the preliminary plat comes first. Beyond the conceptual items, it needs a surveyed plat, a legal description, proof of ownership, utility proof, a certificate of taxes paid, a storm drainage study, a trip generation analysis and a Colorado Geological Survey review receipt. The drainage study must identify a viable storm outfall and the floodplain and floodway boundaries.

Is Adams County changing its review rules?

It is in the middle of a rewrite, so check which version applies when you file.

The county's draft Development Standards and Regulations project page (case PRC2026-00016) scheduled a Planning Commission hearing for October 22, 2026 and a Board of County Commissioners hearing for November 17, 2026, with a January 1, 2027 start date if adopted. The draft gathers the review procedures into a new Chapter 13.

In draft Chapter 13, conceptual review stays voluntary (Sec. 13-01-02). But the request, sketch, checklist and fees are due at least 30 days before the meeting you want, and written comments are due within seven days after it. For formal applications, the draft's referral list (Sec. 13-01-05) names the utility districts serving the vicinity, the county and state health departments for sewage treatment adequacy and the State Engineer for water supply adequacy.

Are you ready to request a conceptual review?

You pass when every item below is a yes. Any no goes to the top of your meeting agenda.

1. Is the parcel in unincorporated Adams County?
2. Do you have the parcel number, site area, existing zoning and existing land use?
3. Can you state the proposed land use in one sentence?
4. Does your scaled site plan show access, parking, structures, wells, septic, easements, utility lines and hazard areas?
5. Can you name your water and sewer provider, or describe your well and septic approach?
6. Do you know where stormwater leaves the site, and whether a floodplain touches it?
7. Has the owner agreed to sign the application?

Then ask staff: Which applications will we need, and in what order? Will a neighborhood meeting be required? Which referral agencies will see this? Will the rewritten code apply to our filing?

Limits. This post summarizes the county's published packets, its draft code and Regulation 22 as of October 2026. It is general information, not a review of your site. Schedules and checklists change, and nothing here predicts what staff or a hearing body will decide.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Adams County conceptual review required?

No. The county's packet calls it voluntary, and the draft code keeps it voluntary. Staff still highly encourage it.

How long does the Adams County conceptual review take?

About four weeks on the county's typical schedule: the meeting three weeks after the county receives the application, and the response letter one week later. An incomplete submittal holds up scheduling.

Are conceptual review meetings held in person?

No. They are held online, and the link comes with the staff comments five days before the meeting.

I own 30 acres in unincorporated Adams County with no sewer main nearby, and I want to split it into ten lots. What should I bring to the conceptual review?

A scaled site plan with existing wells, septic systems, easements, access and any floodplain, plus a clear water and sewer approach. Ten lots on 30 acres puts it in the county's major subdivision process, so ask what utility proof the county will want and what the Adams County Health Department must say about septic. If the lots would share one system over 2,000 gallons per day, raise Regulation 22 now.

I'm a civil engineer in Colorado preparing a conceptual review for an industrial building in Adams County. Who will review it, and what should the plan show?

Planners, engineers, building plan reviewers and environmental analysts, plus the departments and referral agencies the Project Manager routes it to. Show access, parking, structures, easements, utility lines and how you will serve the site. Elevations are preferred, and parking should follow the county's Section 4-15 standards.

Related resources

• Denver Site Development Review Process
• Storm and Sanitary Sewer Permitting for Colorado Developments
• 3 Things You Should Know About Colorado Water and Sewers Providers
• What a Utility Feasibility Study Actually Tells You, and When to Get One

Planning a project in unincorporated Adams County?

Bring a real water, sewer and drainage answer to the conceptual review, and the county's comments get specific.

Modern Engineering Solutions has an office in Golden, Colorado, is licensed in Colorado and has completed 525+ projects. We prepare the site plan, utility approach and drainage concept before you submit.

Talk to an engineer about your Adams County site or call (214) 833-6748.