Douglas County, Colorado - County Development Fees
Douglas County | Colorado county | Denver-Colorado Springs I-25 corridor | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO MSA | County seat: Castle Rock | FIPS 08035
Douglas County is a fast-growth Front Range county on the Denver-Colorado Springs I-25 corridor, home to Castle Rock, Parker, Highlands Ranch, and Lone Tree. Development fees in unincorporated Douglas County are administered by the Douglas County Department of Community Development (zoning and development review), the Building Division (building permits), and the Department of Public Works Engineering (engineering review and construction inspection). Douglas County uses a distinctive Colorado infrastructure-cost model: it levies no county development impact fee, and instead recovers development-related infrastructure cost through a construction use tax on building materials and through more than 150 independent Title 32 metropolitan and special districts that levy their own fees. This page presents the confirmed development review fees captured verbatim from the county's official fee documents, and discloses the fee families the county does not administer. Verify current amounts with Douglas County before relying on them.
On this page
Fee Summary
| Fee Type | Status | Top-Line Figure | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning and Development Review Fees (Development Review Fee Schedule) | Confirmed | Rezoning (PD) $1,625; Rezoning (other districts) $1,000; Combined Preliminary/Final Plat $2,000; Use By Special Review $1,200; Service Plan review $3,500; Matters of State Interest (1041) review $680 | 2017-01-24 |
| Impact Fees (development impact / capital expansion fee) | Not administered | Douglas County levies no development impact fee or capital expansion fee; development-related infrastructure cost is recovered via a construction use tax (a tax, not a fee) and 150-plus independent Title 32 metropolitan/special districts | - |
| Utility Tap Fees (water and sewer connection) | Not administered | Water and sewer service in unincorporated Douglas County is provided by independent Title 32 special districts; the county does not administer utility connection or tap fees | - |
| Special District Fees (Metro Districts / CRS Title 32) | Not administered | More than 150 metropolitan and special districts independently levy service plan fees, assessments, and tap fees; these are not county-administered fees | - |
| Proffers | Not applicable | Colorado jurisdictions do not use Virginia-style cash proffers | - |
Zoning and Development Review Fees
Source: Douglas County Department of Community Development Development Review Fee Schedule (adopted January 4, 2005; revised January 24, 2017; SHA-256 8ea78533...), captured verbatim from the official PDF. These are the fees charged for zoning, subdivision, site improvement, and special land-use applications in unincorporated Douglas County. Administered by: Douglas County Department of Community Development.
Zoning and Land Use
| Application Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Rezoning - Planned Development, 0-20 acres | $1,625 |
| Rezoning - All Other Zone Districts, 0-10 acres | $1,000 |
| Zoning Code Amendment | $400 |
| Variance | $500 |
| Administrative Variance | $375 |
| Appeal | $500 |
| Development Agreement / Vested Property Rights | $1,000 |
| Use By Special Review, 0-40 acres | $1,200 |
| Minor Development | $2,600 |
| Zoning Review at Building Permit | $50 |
Site and Subdivision
| Application Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Site Improvement Plan - Nonresidential | $1,550 |
| Site Improvement Plan - Residential | $1,550 plus $75 per building |
| Subdivision Preliminary Plan, 1-10 lots | $750 |
| Subdivision Preliminary Plan, 11-50 lots | $70 per lot |
| Combined Preliminary/Final Plat, 1-500 lots | $2,000 |
| Final Plat/Replat - Non-Administrative | $700 |
| Location and Extent | $325 |
Special Reviews
| Application Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Service Plan - Planning Review Fee | $3,500 |
| Matters of State Interest (1041) - Review | $680 |
Authority: Douglas County Department of Community Development. The Development Review Fee Schedule was adopted January 4, 2005 and last revised January 24, 2017.
Engineering and Building Permit Costs
The charges below are development-cost context captured from two additional official Douglas County fee documents. They are engineering review, construction-inspection, and building-permit charges - not a separate development impact fee. Sources: Douglas County Public Works Engineering User Fee Manual (Revised April 2016; SHA-256 28269e7a...) and Douglas County Building Division Fees (SHA-256 171b0f5c...), both captured verbatim.
Engineering Review and Construction Cost-Recovery Fees
| Charge | Fee |
|---|---|
| Right-of-Way / Road Vacation | $2,400 |
| Alternative Roadway Standards for Public Roads | $2,500 |
| Traffic Signal Plan Review (per intersection) | $800 |
| Traffic Signal | $500 |
| Traffic Control | $200 |
| Traffic Signage | $50 per subdivision |
| Annual Maintenance GESC Permit | $250 plus $25 per acre |
| Paved-Road Degradation Recovery | $5.00 per square foot |
| Gravel-Road Degradation Recovery | $2.00 per square foot |
Source: Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering, Engineering Division User Fee Manual (Revised April 2016). These are development-review and construction-inspection engineering fees and cost-recovery charges.
Building Permit Cost Context
| Charge | Fee / Basis |
|---|---|
| Building Permit Fee | Valuation-based per 1997 UBC Table 1-A / Table 10.3 |
| Plan Review Fee | 65% of the building permit fee |
| Electrical Permit Fee | Per electrical permit fee schedule (Table 10.3.2) |
| Driveway Permit | $40 |
| Wildfire Mitigation | $120 |
Source: Douglas County Building Division Fees. Building permit fees are valuation-based and calculated from the project valuation using the 1997 UBC fee tables; the plan review fee is 65% of the calculated permit fee. Administered by: Douglas County Building Division.
Impact Fees and Construction Use Tax
Douglas County does not levy a development impact fee or capital expansion fee (CEF). Three official county fee documents reviewed this pass - the Development Review Fee Schedule, the Building Division Fees, and the Public Works Engineering User Fee Manual (the county's most granular development-cost document) - contain only development-review, permit, inspection, and cost-recovery charges, with no per-unit development impact fee. A search of the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners resolutions portal returned no standalone impact-fee or capital-expansion-fee adoption resolution under C.R.S. 29-20-104.5.
Instead, Douglas County recovers development-related infrastructure cost through two mechanisms:
- Construction use tax on building materials. This is a tax, not a fee, collected under intergovernmental agreements such as BOCC Resolution R-018-123 (an IGA with the Town of Larkspur for construction use tax collection on building materials). The construction use tax rate was not extracted this pass and is not stated on this page (see Coverage Notes).
- Title 32 metropolitan and special districts. More than 150 independent metropolitan and special districts within Douglas County levy their own fees, assessments, and tap charges to fund local infrastructure. These are not county-administered fees (see Special District Fees below).
Closed-search outcome: this fee family is not administered by this jurisdiction. Note: a third-party homebuilder-association study circulated in 2025 reports estimated per-unit development costs for Douglas County, but it is not an official primary source and no figure from it is used on this page.
Utility Tap Fees
Water and sewer service in unincorporated Douglas County is provided by independent special districts - for example, Stonegate Village Metropolitan District, Cottonwood Water and Sanitation District, and South Douglas County Water and Sanitation District. Douglas County government does not administer utility connection or tap fees. Water and sewer tap fees must be researched separately for each serving district through that district's own rate schedule.
Closed-search outcome: this fee family is not administered by this jurisdiction.
Special District Fees
Douglas County contains more than 150 metropolitan and special districts - for example, Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District and Stonegate Village Metropolitan District - that independently levy service plan fees, assessments, and tap fees under CRS Title 32. Douglas County government does not collect or administer these district fees. Each district's fee schedule must be researched independently through the district's own governing documents.
Closed-search outcome: this fee family is not administered by this jurisdiction.
Coverage Notes - What This Page Does Not Cover
Per ZoneFee's Partial-Verified Publication Standard, the items below were not closed on this page with a fee amount traceable to a hashed official source document. They are disclosed here rather than estimated, paraphrased from a non-official source, or omitted silently. These items remain under limited-coverage review until the confirmed fee data is finalized and any remaining gaps are closed from official, hash-captured sources.
Development impact fee / capital expansion fee
Douglas County does not administer a development impact fee or capital expansion fee. This is a closed-search outcome (not_administered_by_this_jurisdiction), confirmed against three official county fee documents and the BOCC resolutions portal - not an omission. No per-unit impact fee figure is published because none exists in the official record.
Construction use tax rate
Douglas County recovers development-related infrastructure cost partly through a construction use tax on building materials, confirmed to exist via BOCC Resolution R-018-123 (IGA with the Town of Larkspur). The construction use tax rate was not extracted this pass, so no rate is stated on this page. The construction use tax is a tax, not one of the five development fee families, and its rate will be added when captured from an official source.
Utility tap fees and special district fees
Water and sewer tap fees and metropolitan/special district fees are levied by more than 150 independent Title 32 districts, not by Douglas County government. No county-administered figure exists to publish; each district's schedule must be researched through that district's own governing documents.
Proffers
Colorado jurisdictions do not use cash proffers (a Virginia conditional-zoning mechanism under Virginia Code Sections 15.2-2303 and 15.2-2303.4 with no Colorado counterpart). Growth-related capital needs in Colorado are addressed through impact fees (C.R.S. 29-20-104.5) and intergovernmental agreements. Closed-search outcome: this fee family does not apply to this jurisdiction.
Development Review Fee Schedule currency
The Development Review Fee Schedule was last revised January 24, 2017 - a stable, older schedule. The amounts on this page are verbatim from that schedule; confirm the schedule is still current directly with Douglas County Community Development before relying on these figures.
Fee Authorities
| Authority | Fee Types | Official Website |
|---|---|---|
| Douglas County Department of Community Development | Zoning, subdivision, site improvement, and special land-use development review fees | douglasco.gov |
| Douglas County Building Division | Building permit fees (valuation-based), plan review fees, electrical permits, driveway and wildfire mitigation permits | douglasco.gov |
| Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering | Engineering review fees, construction inspection, right-of-way / road vacation, traffic and road cost-recovery charges | douglasco.gov |
Sources
| Document | Agency | Accessed |
|---|---|---|
| Development Review Fee Schedule (adopted Jan 4 2005; revised Jan 24 2017) (SHA-256 8ea78533...) | Douglas County Department of Community Development | 2026-07-06 |
| Engineering Division User Fee Manual (Revised April 2016) (SHA-256 28269e7a...) | Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering | 2026-07-06 |
| Building Division Fees (UBC Table 10.3 valuation-based permit fees) (SHA-256 171b0f5c...) | Douglas County Building Division | 2026-07-06 |
| Board of County Commissioners Resolutions Search Portal (impact-fee closed-search) | Douglas County Board of County Commissioners | 2026-06-26 |
Last verified by ZoneFee: 2026-07-06. Fee schedules are subject to change. Verify current rates directly with Douglas County (Community Development, Building Division, and Public Works Engineering) before relying on this data for any financial decision.
This page reflects fee data sourced from the Douglas County Development Review Fee Schedule (SHA-256 8ea78533...), Engineering Division User Fee Manual (SHA-256 28269e7a...), and Building Division Fees (SHA-256 171b0f5c...). ZoneFee does not guarantee that fee amounts are current at the time you read this page. Fee schedules change. The Development Review Fee Schedule was last revised January 24, 2017. Douglas County does not levy a development impact fee or capital expansion fee; it recovers development-related infrastructure cost through a construction use tax (a tax, not a fee) and through more than 150 independent Title 32 metropolitan and special districts. Water and sewer tap fees and special district fees are levied by those independent districts, not by Douglas County government. Colorado jurisdictions do not use Virginia-style cash proffers. Verify all current rates directly with Douglas County before relying on this data for land acquisition, project budgeting, or any financial decision. This page is for research and due-diligence reference only - it is not legal or financial advice.