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Zoning rules face changes Elbert County commissioners to vote on proposal in May By Rick Gustafson
Special to Colorado Community Media
Elbert County resident Rob “Poppy” Parker, left, and his son, Ryan — two of the three stars of the new reality TV show, “BrainStormers” — watch the premiere episode at The Viewhouse in Centennial with more than 100 friends and family members.
A NEW VIEW OF ELBERT COUNTY Area residents Ryan Parker, Bill LeVasseur and Rob “Poppy” Parker, the three stars of the new reality television show, “BrainStormers,” watched the premiere episodes on The Weather Channel March 22 with more than 100 friends and family members at The Viewhouse in Centennial. The show follows the men as they help inventors finish their creations by using a little bit of ingenuity. The show is based in southern Elbert County.
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MICHLEWICZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
Parker resident Bill LeVasseur laughs with his neighbor, Lily Vonesh, during a premiere party March 22 for LeVasseur’s new reality show, “BrainStormers,” on The Weather Channel. More than 100 friends and family members attended the party at The Viewhouse.
ELBERT COUNTY NEWS (USPS 171-100)
OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Elizabeth, Colorado, the Elbert County News is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ELIZABETH, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. GE T SOCI AL WITH US
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Funding in place for water study Board grant puts county over top for program By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media
Elbert County has cleared the final funding hurdle for conducting a countywide water study. On March 18, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) awarded the county a $120,000 grant to fund the second of two water projects designed to measure and assess the deep-water aquifers that provide the majority of water to Elbert County’s residents. The county has budgeted $20,000 to meet a matching requirement for the CWCB grant that will be used to analyze data obtained from a U.S. Geological Survey well monitoring network. Also partially funded by CWCB grant money, the well-monitoring network began targeting existing, eligible wells within Elbert
County last fall and, in February, began measuring water levels in a minimum of 30 existing wells that extract water from the local aquifers. The county plans use the data generated from the volunteer monitoring network and assessed by the study to provide guidance to develop a water master plan. The plan is expected to consider the existing water supply and water supply projections, in order to manage options and to estimate the costs of providing infrastructure for the population growth and economic development expected in the county in the coming decades. “These are components of a much bigger picture. There is a lot going on with regard to the issue of water in this county,” said District I Commissioner Robert Rowland at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on March 25. “I’m dedicating myself to making this a priority. To get as much information as possible to the public about the Denver Basin water future. The majority of Elbert County
overlies several of the FrontRange’s aquifers, collectively known as the Denver Basin, which extends north from Colorado Springs to Greeley. District III Commissioner Larry Ross, who also spoke on the subject at the BOCC’s March 25 meeting, expressed his appreciation to the members of the allvolunteer Water Advisory Committee for their work. “Thanks go out to all those folks who participated in grant writing and all the effort that went into this,” Ross said. The county intends to hold periodic meetings to keep the public apprised of the progress of the well monitoring and the subsequent water study. The dates for the public meetings will be posted on the Elbert County website at elbertcounty-co.gov. The 15-member CWCB is appointed by the governor and was created to provide policy direction for water issues in eight major areas including water conservation, water information and water supply planning.
What began as an ongoing effort to formalize Elbert County’s business practices has evolved into what could be a first step in overhauling the county’s zoning laws, which have been described by many as challenging. In December, the Board of County Commissioners directed the Elbert County Planning Commission to create and submit bylaws for its approval. After much public rancor over the content and approval process, the county commissioners directed the planning commission to make recommendations regarding Part I of the Elbert County zoning regulations as they pertain to the planning commission. The effort resulted in proposed changes to Part I developed by the planning commission in conjunction with Kyle Fenner, director of community and development. The changes were unanimously approved on Feb. 10 by the planning commission and presented to the BOCC by Fenner at a public hearing on March 25. “The planning commission has turned this over, tried it on, and unburied everything there is to unbury,” Fenner told the county commissioners as a prelude to her presentation. Though the county commissioners did make some changes, adding specificity to some regulations and removing language they felt might be too limiting to others, the document remained mostly intact by the end of the session. One minor change was a clarification to benchmarks in the approval process to document the progression of an application and to make the process more transparent. “The intent was to never have the impression again that the planning commission was delaying the process or not being diligent in pursuing an amendment to the Elbert County Zoning Regulations,” Commissioner Larry Ross said during the discussions at the March 25 public hearing. The wording in the latest draft establishes a 60-day window from the date of application for the planning commission to make its recommendation. If the commission needs more time after 60 days, they may grant themselves a 60day extension by a recorded vote that Zoning continues on Page 7
Kyle Fenner, director of Elbert County Community & Development Services, presents proposed zoning law changes at a March 25 public hearing. Photo by Rick Gustafson