Elbert County to consider 5,672-acre Colorado Plains Ranch plan

Elbert County’s Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a Nov. 4 hearing on a proposed rezoning for the 5,671.9-acre Colorado Plains Ranch. The planned unit development (PUD) lists 44 types of uses, but the proposal has not been approved.

The plan divides the site into four areas for industrial agriculture; industrial, technology and energy uses; transportation; and uses along the State Highway 86 corridor. Examples include data and technology operations, energy generation and storage, mining, feedlots and concrete batch plants, the proposed PUD materials say.

Higher-impact uses would require an Enhanced Site Development Plan and a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners. Other uses would still require site-plan review. The proposal sets a framework for future development; it does not approve construction, the county’s staff report says.

Water service and highway access remain issues for later site-plan approvals. Staff says the site’s annual water supply is limited to 184.7 acre-feet under the county’s 300-year rule. The applicant proposes a metropolitan district to provide water and wastewater service. Staff says the district’s service plan or another service arrangement would need approval before site-plan approval.

Reviewers questioned whether proposed district boundaries and taxing authority could overlap, potentially allowing multiple districts to levy taxes on the same property. They also asked for support for property-value assumptions used in financial models. The comments raise questions for the applicant; they do not establish that the districts will overlap or that the valuations are incorrect, the reviewers’ comments show.

The reviewers also flagged different figures in the Water and Sanitation District’s numerical plan and proposed service plan: the numerical plan uses a 7-mill base debt-levy figure, while the service plan specifies a 55-mill maximum debt levy, subject to adjustment. The 7-mill figure is a financial-plan assumption, not an adopted tax rate, and the draft service plan is not an approved financing plan, the proposed plan states.

In separate comments, County Attorney Lance Ingalls requested that the proposed service plans require at least two forms of legal notice to affected property owners before fee increases are considered. He also asked that annual reports include available water-well-level data and other information about water supplied within the district. Applicant’s counsel replied that both provisions would be added to the plans. The exchange documents requested changes and the applicant’s response, not final county approval or confirmation that revisions were incorporated, the correspondence records.

By Oct. 26, staff had received six written comments opposing the proposal, primarily citing water and environmental concerns. Staff also reported no outstanding objections from referral agencies. Traffic studies and a Colorado Department of Transportation highway-access permit were not complete when staff prepared its report. Staff says access permits, any required road improvements and traffic-management measures must be addressed before site-plan approvals.

A Board of County Commissioners hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18, after the Planning Commission hearing. Both hearings are future proceedings.