Manitou Springs, CO Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

02 of the Stormwater Quality Management and Discharge Control Title, and it runs alongside the land-use approvals in Title 18. Before any qualifying land disturbance, applicants submit a GEC Plan through the Planning Department using the city's Grading and Erosion Control Permit Checklist, plus a Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) built to the SWMP Checklist by a Qualified Stormwater Manager. The SWMP has to stand alone from the engineering plan set, document every pollutant source on site, and get updated before conditions change in the field, not after.

No excavation may start until the Planning Director issues a Notice to Proceed, which follows plan approval, paid fees, any required financial assurance, and a City inspector's sign-off on the initial control measures; starting early risks an immediate Stop Work Order. Once work begins, a Qualified Stormwater Manager must self-inspect every fourteen calendar days, or every seven days if skipping post-storm checks, and City Inspectors run Routine Inspections at least every forty-five days plus Compliance Inspections within fourteen days of a documented problem. Any control measure that fails or falls short must be corrected within three calendar days of the city identifying the issue.

To close out the permit, the site must reach final stabilization, meaning disturbance has stopped and either seventy percent of pre-disturbance plant density has returned or an equivalent permanent erosion-control method is installed, with no noxious weeds present, before the Planning Director issues a written Notice of Termination.