Elbert County to consider 200-acre, 20-lot Freedom Valley Ranch project near Kiowa

The Elbert County Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to consider the proposed Freedom Valley Ranch rezoning and subdivision near Kiowa on July 22. As of July 18, the county record reviewed for this story did not show a completed Board decision.

The proposal would rezone five parcels near Winners Circle and County Road 174 from Agriculture to Residential Agriculture and divide about 200 acres into 20 lots of roughly 10 acres each. County materials describe about 40 acres of open-space easements. The county’s hearing materials describe the final-plat request, while the related rezone materials describe the requested change.

The Planning Commission recommended approval at a July 7 hearing, according to county materials. The pre-hearing review identified water supply, road capacity, utility easements and emergency-fire access as issues requiring conditions or additional documentation. Draft approval materials contemplate recording required documents within 180 days and withholding effectiveness until fees are paid, conditions are satisfied and the applicable exhibit or plat is recorded. Those are proposed conditions, not final conditions adopted by the Board.

Water is the project’s central long-term constraint. County and state referral materials identify a proposed supply from the not-nontributary 4% Denver Basin aquifer under Determination of Water Right No. 3280-BD. They estimate applicant-owned supply at 79.66 acre-feet per year under a 100-year calculation or 26.55 acre-feet under Elbert County’s 300-year basis, compared with projected demand of 20 acre-feet per year for the 20 lots. The materials say small-capacity wells will not be available for the new subdivision and that large-capacity well permits will be needed. The county’s water-referral record says the Ground Water Commission retains jurisdiction over the final amount available.

Those figures are permitting and planning assumptions, not a guarantee that each household will have the same well performance for 300 years. Colorado’s Division of Water Resources explains that Denver Basin groundwater is nonrenewable and is not replenished on a human timescale. The project referral materials say water-level declines could shorten the wells’ economic life and recommend that the county consider requiring renewable water supplies. The available record does not show that renewable or replacement water became a final condition for Freedom Valley Ranch.

The Board’s July 22 action will determine whether the rezoning and plat move forward and whether the proposal’s footprint, lot count or conditions change.