Published
Phase one was never the whole application. The county read every acre the developer owns — and may have signed your covenants.
One canvas: the master plan rule
Section 5.56 of the Development Code sits at the top of the subdivision standards, and its opening paragraph hands the county a lens most buyers never hear about:
Any application for a Class II permit may be disapproved solely on the basis that it fails to show an overall master plan for the application of the entire contiguous holdings of the Applicant and/or owner. Multiple contiguous parcels held by a single owner are considered a single parcel for the purposes of Master Planning.
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), section 5.56. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Retrieved 7 September 2026
Class II is the county’s heavier application class — per the code’s own list in 3.02.030, it covers land splits and subdivisions, short plats and re-plats, conditional and special uses, higher-density residential applications, and commercial and industrial applications. Read the two sentences above slowly, because the second one is the quiet one: contiguous parcels under one owner count as one parcel for this review. The county is not judging the 20 acres being platted. It is judging every acre the developer holds next to it, as a single canvas.
What that means when you stand in a model lot: the phase-one plat you were handed is an excerpt of a bigger file. The open field behind the phase-one road, the undeveloped quarter to the west — if the same owner holds them and they touch, they were part of what the county reviewed. The code says the application “may be disapproved solely” for failing to show the whole-holding plan, which tells you how much weight that lens carries.
What the master plan must contain, stage by stage
The same section lists the sub-plans that are “minimally required” as part of an application’s master plan, to be amended and expanded as the application moves. In the code’s own arrangement:
| Stage | What the file must contain |
|---|---|
| Sketch plan (5.56.010) | A site context map; an existing resources and site analysis plan |
| Preliminary plan (5.56.020) | The preliminary plat; a runoff and erosion control plan; an improvement plan and agreement — the instrument behind what a phased subdivision guarantees; an open space ownership and management plan; a wildlife plan; a master landscape plan; a wildfire sensitive area plan if applicable — the overlay covered on the wildfire page; and the applicant’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions |
| Final plan (5.56.030) | The final revised versions of all previously required plan components |
Notice what sits in that middle row, last on the list but first in consequence for a buyer: the applicant’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions are a required component of the subdivision’s master plan. The rules that will bind your lot were in the county’s file before the plat was signed. And the code does not stop at requiring them to exist — it gives the county two ways to write itself into them.
The covenants the county co-signs
Section 5.56.020(3) is about what the county may do to those covenants, and both of its weapons are sentences the county can require to appear in your title documents verbatim. First, the county may require some or all restrictive covenants — whether proposed by the applicant or required by the Commission or Board — to be set apart under a heading identifying them as plat approval covenants, indicating:
These covenant(s) may not be repealed or amended without prior written consent of the Fremont County Board of Commissioners.
— language the county may require in plat approval covenants, Development Code 5.56.020(3)(1). Retrieved 7 September 2026
Second, on any covenants the county itself required as a condition of plat approval, it may require this sentence:
The Fremont County Board of Commissioners is a party to this restrictive covenant and may enforce its terms.
— language the county may require in its required covenants, Development Code 5.56.020(3)(2). Retrieved 7 September 2026
The verbs matter: the Commission may recommend and the Board may require at its sole discretion — so not every subdivision carries these sentences, and you cannot assume either way. But when your covenants contain one, the character of the document changes. Those rules are conditions of the plat’s approval, not neighbor preferences, and the county is a named enforcement party. A homeowners’ vote, a merger, even unanimous neighbor agreement does not repeal them — only the Board’s prior written consent does.
Nine things the covenants must provide when there is common property
The same subsection ends with the rule that shapes any subdivision built around common ground. If common property is to be deeded to a property owners’ association, “the covenants and by-laws which govern the association must, at a minimum, provide for” nine things, lettered (a) through (i) in the code:
| Letter | The covenant must provide for |
|---|---|
| (a) | Formation of the association concurrently with the filing of the final plat, with Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State’s office |
| (b) | Mandatory membership for each property owner — purchasers may also be required to sign a waiver of the right to protest forming a maintenance district |
| (c) | Payment of liability insurance premiums, local taxes, and the cost of maintaining recreational or other facilities |
| (d) | Placement of liens on the property of lot owners delinquent in association fees and assessments |
| (e) | Adjustment of assessments to meet changing needs |
| (f) | Means of enforcing the covenants, and of receiving and processing complaints |
| (g) | Transition of control of the association from the Declarant to the homeowners |
| (h) | Dissolution of the association and modification of the covenants, after obtaining the governing body’s approval |
| (i) | Regular maintenance of roads, parks, buildings, drainage facilities, and other facilities the association controls |
Two of the nine deserve a buyer’s attention before the rest:
- (d) is the lien power. The covenants must let the association place a lien on the lot of any owner delinquent on fees and assessments — a power against the title you are buying, required by the county to keep common obligations collectable.
- (g) is the handoff. The covenants must provide for control moving from the Declarant — the developer, in the ordinary case — to the homeowners. Ask, in writing, where that transition stands in any subdivision you are buying into: who holds the votes today is a different question from who the documents eventually serve.
Reading the file before you buy
- Get the covenants and the association by-laws with your title documents — not a summary from a brochure, the recorded instruments.
- Search them for the two sentences quoted above. If either appears, mark those covenants as plat-approval conditions: changing them runs through the Board of County Commissioners.
- If there is common property, walk the (a)–(i) list against the by-laws and confirm each minimum exists — the county required them before the plat was signed.
- Ask who controls the association today — the Declarant or the homeowners — and what the by-laws say triggers the transition.
- Find item (i) in practice: which roads, parks and drainage facilities the association maintains, and at what assessment — the lot-to-lot version of that question is covered on what differs lot to lot on this corridor.
- Ask Planning what the master plan for the entire contiguous holding showed — the field behind phase one was in the county’s file, and it is fair to ask what was drawn there.
None of this replaces reading the plat itself, which remains the map of what came with the lots — start with what the plat says about utilities, and for the improvements and guarantees side of the same file, what a phased subdivision guarantees.
Common questions
What is the master plan rule in Fremont County?
Development Code section 5.56 provides that any application for a Class II permit may be disapproved solely on the basis that it fails to show an overall master plan for the application of the entire contiguous holdings of the applicant and/or owner. Multiple contiguous parcels held by a single owner are considered a single parcel for master planning purposes.
What is a Class II permit?
The county's heavier application class. Per section 3.02.030, Class II permits are required for any land split, division or subdivision creating buildable lots; short plats up to six lots; standard subdivisions and re-plats; conditional and special uses; expanded or major transient rental use; higher-density residential applications including multi-family, RV and manufactured home parks; commercial and industrial applications; and clearing or grading preparatory to those.
Can the county deny a subdivision just for lacking a master plan?
Yes. The code's word is 'solely' — an application may be disapproved solely because it fails to show an overall master plan for the entire contiguous holdings. The county treats contiguous parcels under one owner as a single parcel for this purpose.
What are plat approval covenants?
Restrictive covenants, set apart under their own heading, that the county required or approved as part of plat approval. The county may require them to indicate that they may not be repealed or amended without prior written consent of the Fremont County Board of Commissioners.
Can the county enforce covenants against my lot?
For covenants the county required as a condition of plat approval, yes — the county may require them to state that 'The Fremont County Board of Commissioners is a party to this restrictive covenant and may enforce its terms.' Not every subdivision carries these sentences; whether yours does is answered by the recorded covenants themselves.
What must covenants provide when a subdivision has common property?
Section 5.56.020(3) lists nine minimums, lettered (a) through (i): association formation concurrent with the final plat, with Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State; mandatory membership for each owner; payment of insurance, taxes and facility maintenance; liens against delinquent owners; assessment adjustment; covenant enforcement and complaint processing; transition of control from the Declarant to the homeowners; dissolution and modification with governing-body approval; and regular maintenance of roads, parks, buildings and drainage facilities.
Can a property owners' association put a lien on my lot?
Where common property is deeded to an association, the covenants must provide for placement of liens on the property of lot owners delinquent in association fees and assessments. That is a county-required minimum, so assume the power exists and read the assessment schedule before you buy.
Who controls the association — the developer or the owners?
The covenants must provide for transition of control from the Declarant to the homeowners, but where that transition stands at any moment depends on the subdivision. Ask in writing who holds voting control today and what triggers the handoff.
Does every subdivision have a property owners' association?
No. The nine covenant minimums apply where common property is to be deeded to a property owners' association. A subdivision without common property can exist without one, though its covenants may still bind — and if either county sentence appears, the Board of County Commissioners holds a say over changes.