The Fremont County Commissioners Tuesday voted to set a special hearing date in April to reconsider a controversial zone change that was approved last December for 143 acres on the Ron Walker Ranch on the northeast corner of Highway 50 and 'R' Street at Penrose. The decision was in response to an appeal from the East Fremont Alliance, a group of residents in the Top Rail Ranch Estates. The group has submitted statements to the Board of Commissioners asking for a reconsideration of the zone change alleging that Ron Walker misrepresented his plans for the property in the written application to the Planning and Zoning Department.
The East Fremont Alliance argues that after the Commissioners approved Walker's zone change last December 9th, Walker sold the property several days later to the Holcim Company which eventually wants to turn the property into a limestone quarry. The Commissioners say it will be the responsibility of the group to offer proof of their allegations that Walker made false claims about intended use of the property in the application when the fact finding hearing is conducted. The Commissioners set the special hearing date on Wednesday, April 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. (The full text of the statement issued by the Board of Commissioners on Friday, March 20th, regarding this issue appears elsewhere in this News Now web page.)
The board on Tuesday also adopted Driveway Access Regulations that will be used by the Fremont County Road and Bridge Department. Commissioner Larry Lasha praised the efforts of the four district road foremen and County Building Official Mike Cox in drafting the language for driveway accesses. Commissioner Ed Norden said the changes in policy came about to make sure that each foremen was uniformly applying the same regulations on driveway access permits from one end of the county to the other.
Also approved was a resolution establishing a new fee schedule for driveway access permits. The new schedule calls for a $55 charge for a single residence access permit. Commercial access permits would be charged $55 for a vehicle unit with vehicle units being described as eight vehicular trips per day. The fee schedule then includes calculations for the number of trips compared to the square footage of commercial space in question.
The Commissioners conducted a pair of routine public hearings associated with creation of the North Canon Sanitary Sewer Improvement District. One hearing dealt with the formality of accepting the $1.3 million Community Development Block Grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The other hearing dealt with the formality of permitting construction of the sewer project partially in some flood plain areas.
In other business Tuesday the Commissioners:
The East Fremont Alliance argues that after the Commissioners approved Walker's zone change last December 9th, Walker sold the property several days later to the Holcim Company which eventually wants to turn the property into a limestone quarry. The Commissioners say it will be the responsibility of the group to offer proof of their allegations that Walker made false claims about intended use of the property in the application when the fact finding hearing is conducted. The Commissioners set the special hearing date on Wednesday, April 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. (The full text of the statement issued by the Board of Commissioners on Friday, March 20th, regarding this issue appears elsewhere in this News Now web page.)
The board on Tuesday also adopted Driveway Access Regulations that will be used by the Fremont County Road and Bridge Department. Commissioner Larry Lasha praised the efforts of the four district road foremen and County Building Official Mike Cox in drafting the language for driveway accesses. Commissioner Ed Norden said the changes in policy came about to make sure that each foremen was uniformly applying the same regulations on driveway access permits from one end of the county to the other.
Also approved was a resolution establishing a new fee schedule for driveway access permits. The new schedule calls for a $55 charge for a single residence access permit. Commercial access permits would be charged $55 for a vehicle unit with vehicle units being described as eight vehicular trips per day. The fee schedule then includes calculations for the number of trips compared to the square footage of commercial space in question.
The Commissioners conducted a pair of routine public hearings associated with creation of the North Canon Sanitary Sewer Improvement District. One hearing dealt with the formality of accepting the $1.3 million Community Development Block Grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The other hearing dealt with the formality of permitting construction of the sewer project partially in some flood plain areas.
In other business Tuesday the Commissioners:
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Approved the final resolution adopting conditions for the Southern Delivery System water pipeline project;
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Tabled again at the request of the applicant the Salt Canyon gypsum mine conditional use permit. The board will consider final conditions for the gypsum mine for GCC Rio Grande Inc. located along Highway 115 south of the Fremont-El Paso County line at the board's April 14th meeting;
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Approved a temporary use permit for the Penrose Chamber of Commerce to operate a flea market at the Gooseberry Patch parking lot in Penrose this summer;
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Authorized the chairman's signature on a $5,740 grant to install water and electrical conserving switches and toilets in restrooms in the County Administration Building.