Turf and putting greens in Colony Pointe.

Article XI, Section 2 of the declaration recorded in December 2001 reads: “No buildings, structures or other Improvements including fences and landscaping shall be constructed, modified or altered unless first approved in writing by the Architectural Review Committee.” The declaration counts landscaping and sprinkling systems among those Improvements, so pulling up sod or moving sprinkler heads is a change for the committee too.

Its test is harmony. The committee is to use reasonable judgment so each change will “conform to and harmonize with existing surroundings and structures”, and it may deny one it reasonably decides does not. The covenants also point owners to mandatory landscaping requirements in Architectural Design Standards the committee adopts, yet the HOA’s posted papers hold none beyond Exhibit B, whose recorded minimums deal with houses, grading and driveways rather than planting. What Colorado law says about HOAs and backyard turf is in the HOA approval guide.

Section 9(aa) bars any owner from changing “the topography or drainage pattern of a Lot” from what the declarant set, unless the committee approves. An owner who does it anyway answers for the damage and may have to put the ground back. Exhibit B adds that the grading and design of each lot “is shown on the recorded Plat and must be adhered to”, with exterior grading carrying water away from the house and the houses beside it.

That decides how a green is built here. Breaks and tiers belong in the compacted base, inside the fall the lot already has, rather than in new fill that turns runoff toward a neighbor or back at a foundation. A site plan with the drainage path marked on it belongs in the submittal. Exhibit B also discourages “large elevated decks or patios”, so seating laid at grade beside the green is an easier fit than a raised deck overlooking it.

The declaration’s minimum submittal is a site plan, complete construction plans, and specifications with color schemes and material samples, plus any review costs the committee asks for up front. The HOA’s own form is lighter: a description of the work with its size, color, materials and location, and at least one plan, brochure, sample or photo. A form sent back without a sample or plan will not be reviewed.

Once everything is in, the committee has 30 days to approve or reject in writing, giving reasons and, where practical, the changes that would pass. If that deadline goes by, the owner notifies the committee in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested; if 15 more days pass without an answer, the plans as submitted are deemed approved. If the committee asks for more documents, neither period starts until they are in. After the work, the owner reports completion and the committee may inspect.

The clock matters more than usual here. The HOA has suspended dues for 2025 through 2027 and stopped writing status letters because of the board’s limited availability, and its 2024 meeting described a covenant-style HOA with limited board activity. The declaration still calls for a committee of at least 3 members. It depends on who is serving when a plan goes in: ask the board where to send it, since the form lists the HOA’s post office box and the documents page asks for paint forms by email.

The Town of Milliken owns and operates Ehrlich Park and Ehrlich Lake and the trails around them, and on the county’s parcel roll it holds Colony Pointe’s two largest outlots, about 17.6 and 3.5 acres. A house that backs onto that land has a public park and its trails on the other side of the back fence.

Two sets of rules meet at that property line. The covenants require the committee’s written approval for fencing of any type. Milliken’s fence standards, which reach houses already built, call for a permit before construction and want a side or rear fence beside a park or open space to be at least 50 percent open; the code lists split rail, picket and wrought iron. Owners raised lake-side fencing at the November 2023 homeowners meeting as something for the HOA and the Town to settle, so ask both before a fence is ordered to frame a green.

A pet area raises the same sight-line question. The covenants want a dog run approved first and kept off any spot where it is visible from a street or public view. Whether a yard seen from the park trail counts as public view is the committee’s call; ask it before turf for the dogs goes along the back fence.

Milliken’s zoning map puts all 247 Colony Pointe parcels inside a Planned Unit Development zone rather than an ordinary single-family district. Milliken’s code says land use in a PUD approved under it is “controlled by the provisions of the approved PUD MDP and FDP”, the master and final development plans, which may set their own dimensions and uses and are filed with Weld County and the Town Clerk. Colony Pointe’s PUD is older than the current code and its plan is not posted online, so whether that plan or the Town’s standard districts decide a green’s coverage and setbacks depends on the recorded documents; ask Milliken Planning or the Town Clerk for a copy. The committee enforces the same building setbacks the Town requires.

Two more Town rules reach every lot. Existing detached houses are exempt from most of Milliken’s Division 3 landscape standards. And the covenants allow no individual water supply system on any lot, tying each house to water and sewer under the Town’s ordinances; Milliken’s sprinkler hours for town-treated water are on the Milliken page.

Weld County’s parcel data counts 241 house lots across Colony Pointe and its Filing Two, around a median of about 0.16 acre, near 6,900 square feet. The middle half fall between about 6,600 and 7,500 square feet, and the largest is near 0.27 acre. The HOA’s own count is 233 detached homes.

At that size the back yard works as one composition: the green and its fringe, a seating area at grade, the path to the side gate and any shed or pergola, drawn on the same site plan the committee will read. The covenants want written consent for a shed or other accessory building, but say such structures “shall not be unreasonably prohibited” so long as their materials, colors and placement are fully considered.