The Growth of Ranchettes in La Plata County, Colorado, 1988–2008

Abstract

Ranchettes are low-density, rural parcels typically from thirty-five to seventy acres that have proliferated across the Rocky Mountain West. They consume large amounts of land and increase fragmentation, leading to potentially negative impacts on the ecology and cultural identity of local places. Although many anecdotal accounts decry the rise in ranchettes, few studies measure their prevalence or spatial patterns. We use archival and contemporary land ownership data to measure ranchette development in La Plata County, Colorado, an amenity-rich county popular for recreation, retirement, and ranchettes. Results show continual yet slowing growth across the decades with patterns of growth spreading in a contagious effect around initial nodes of development.

Los ranchetes son parcelas rurales de baja densidad, con extensiones típicas de entre treinta y cinco y setenta acres, que proliferan a través del oeste de las Montañas Rocallosas. En conjunto afectan a grandes extensiones de tierra e incrementan la fragmentación, lo cual puede conducir a impactos potencialmente negativos sobre la ecología y la identidad cultural de los lugares locales. Aunque numerosos registros anecdóticos censuran la aparición de los ranchetes, muy pocos estudios se ocupan de medir su prevalencia o sus patrones espaciales. Utilizamos datos de archivo e información contemporánea sobre propiedad para medir el desarrollo de los ranchetes en el condado de La Plata, Colorado, un espacio rico en comodidades populares para la recreación, el retiro por jubilación y los ranchetes. Los resultados muestran un crecimiento continuo aunque decreciente durante décadas, con patrones de crecimiento que se extienden con efecto contagioso a partir de nodos iniciales de desarrollo.

Key Words::

• exurbia
• land use
• natural amenities
• New West
• ranchettes

关键词:

• 远郊
• 土地利用
• 自然设施
• 新西部
• 小型牧场

Palabras clave::

• trans-suburbano
• uso del suelo
• comodidades naturales
• Nuevo Oeste
• ranchetes

Acknowledgments

Notes

*The authors wish to thank the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Robbie Overfield of the La Plata County Planning Department for his initial reactions and review, Christian Stoddard for his geographic information systems expertise, and Lacey Benz for her patience. We also were helped with suggestions from colleagues David Havlick, Tom Huber, the late Curt Poulton, and three anonymous reviewers. Any errors remain our own.

Broomfield and Denver Counties were excluded because their farmland is negligible.

The Colorado Division of Water Resources and the San Juan Basin Health Department have minimum lot size requirements for well and septic systems that drive these smaller parcel sizes and encourage development of three acres or larger.

Not all of these quarter sections with private lands would be available for ranchette development. Some lands are held in conservation trusts or by public agencies but do not show up in our GIS database, and others are isolated parcels inside of public lands that cannot be accessed.

In fact, those interested can look at parcel data superimposed on aerial imagery to see that many, if not most, of the ranchette parcels in La Plata County are undeveloped. See http://arcims.laplata.co.us/laplatawebsite/

For 2008, data are available for the numbers of parcels vacant, but we have no such information for the earlier years.