City oil and gas regulations will have to wait.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Springs City Council decided to wait another 30 days before voting on a series of local rules for the oil and gas industry. Though city staffers handed the council a detailed proposal based on what the city’s planning commission approved in August, many council members said there were too many holes in the rules for them to accept.

One of the largest, said Council President Scott Hente, is that they were being asked to approve a measure that would give the state power over the zoning code, therefore overriding the city’s home rule authority.

Councilman Bernie Herpin said early in the hearing that it would be “incomprehensible” to him that the city wouldn’t be able to deny energy companies the right to drill in residential areas, especially when the city outlaws plenty of other activities.

“I can’t have a pornography business in my home. Or in my backyard,” Herpin said.

Councilman Tim Leigh said another big concern for him and other members was a lack of monitoring for water and air quality. As proposed, he said, drilling areas only have to be inspected the first year, then three years, then six years after being established.

“We put a man on the moon. We can’t monitor water?” Leigh asked sarcastically.

But Councilwoman Angela Dougan said the council had delayed the issue long enough.

“I wonder, is this a game of stalling and stalling until we don’t move forward?” Dougan said. “There are more people who have been killed by tainted cantaloupes than by oil spills.”

The regulations before council on Tuesday worked oil and gas drilling into the city’s existing land use code and cover issues such as traffic impacts and the permitting process. They don’t directly address water quality monitoring or adding local inspectors, but leave room for council to tackle those issues through a legal agreement with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

Representatives from the COGCC and Ultra Petroleum, which is seeking approval to drill two wells on Banning Lewis Ranch, praised the regulations in August. A commission representative at the council meeting addressed some procedural issues.

However, others have pleaded at city hearings, including Tuesday’s council meeting, for tighter regulations on drilling.

The COGCC has tangled with other cities and counties that have tried to ban or restrict drilling. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers’ office is suing Longmont over its attempt to bar drilling in residential areas.

Ultra Resources, a subsidiary of Ultra Petroleum, bought 18,000 acres of Banning Lewis Ranch last year and has state approval to drill at two sites there, but needs a permit from the city. The company has drilled three wells in unincorporated El Paso County. No one from Ultra addressed council on Tuesday.

Councilman Val Snider said he hadn’t gotten enough information to make a decision, and moved that the council put off a vote for 30 days. Every member but Dougan agreed.

Leigh predicted that they would eventually approve rules for the industry, and that they would move forward with drilling. They just needed to make sure they covered their bases.

Council President Pro-tem Jan Martin looked at the city’s interim director, Kyle Campbell, and said, “Bring us options.”

An Ultra Resources drilling rig in El Paso County. Photo by The Gazette file