Mesa County, CO Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

02 of the 2020 Land Development Code sets AFT district density at a base of one lot per five acres unless Table 7-1 lists a different base for the parcel's Future Land Use Classification. Table 7-1 also flags which classifications, including Rural Ag 10 (R/A 10) and Rural Ag 17 A (R/A 17), may pursue a density bonus above that base and require reserved acreage. 02(C)(1), Eligibility, a property qualifies only if its Future Land Use Classification is one Table 7-1 marks as bonus-eligible. 02(C)(3) on top of standard major-subdivision requirements.

Table 7-2, Reserved Land Required, ties the size of the bonus to how much land the applicant sets aside: for the R/A 17 and R/A 10 classifications, reserving land is required at 30, 40 or 50 percent of the site depending on the density increase sought. 02(C)(3)(b) through (f) add siting rules: reserved land must avoid steep slopes, ridgelines, wetlands and wildlife habitat, should sit near existing agricultural operations, and must carry a plat note that it stays reserved until the county's Master Plan or this Code is amended.

Because this mechanism sits inside the AFT district's density chapter, it applies only to unincorporated land zoned AFT, not to Grand Junction, Fruita or Palisade.