A pair of controversial public hearings dominated the Fremont County Commissioners' three hour regular meeting Tuesday as the Board approved a permit for a gravel pit along Oak Creek Grade Road and denied a permit for paintball shooting grounds north of Penrose.
Neighbors protested the Rockbottom Gravel Pit along County Road #143 on the Griffin Ranch property. Fremont County previously had the lease to operate the gravel pit on about nine acres and was limited to ten trucks per day. Rockbottom owners sought to expand the operation to 12 1/2 trucks per day from sunrise to sunset Monday through Saturday. Neighbors complained the heavy truck traffic would create a lot of safety and dust problems. The Commissioners approved the conditional use permit on a 2 to 1 vote but limited traffic to ten trucks per day from Monday through Friday. Rockbottom will also have to seek special permission each time they want to blast. Commissioner Larry Lasha moved to approve the permit saying with such rapid growth in that area along Oak Creek Grade near the Custer County line, property owners would be buying gravel from someone to build all the new roads. Lasha said it would be safer to have truck traffic hauling from a local pit than to haul it the entire length of Oak Creek Grade Road from Canon City.
Residents of the Pinon Valley subdivision voiced strong opposition to a plan by Ricardo and Fermina Fortson to operate a commercial paintball shooting southwest of Tepley Trail and Olsen Road in the Beaver Park area. Fortson wanted to operate the paintball range on Saturdays and Sundays plus special appointments. The Commissioners voted unanimously to deny the special review use permit. Commissioner Ed Norden said his opposition was not about the paintball facility. Norden said he felt it would be wrong for the County to place any commercial recreational operation in a residential area and to put that commercial traffic on a privately maintained road.
In other business the Board of Commissioners:
-
Approved a temporary use permit to allow the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to host their annual banquet and auction on August 12th at 380 'B' Skyland Ave. in the Airport Industrial Park;
-
Recognized Jeanine Ormandy upon her retirement after 25 years of service with the Fremont County Nursing Service;
-
Approved the annual renewal of all ambulance service licenses in the County;
-
Granted a waiver for paving an access apron and installing privacy strips in chain link fencing for Roberts Mini-Storage on South 9th Street in Canon City.
The Board also expressed appreciation to Sharon Kendall for her years of work as the County Clerk's Recording Secretary for Commissioners' Board meetings. Kendall worked her last meeting with the Board Tuesday and is retiring.