Planners recommend approval for Riverside Cabins lodge with conditions after neighbors raise water, septic and access concerns

Boulder County Planning Commissioners on Sept. 17 recommended conditional approval of a special-use review for the Riverside Cabins Lodge, a longstanding lodging operation northwest of Lyons, while adding conditions and directions aimed at water, septic, floodplain and access issues.

The staff recommendation, presented by Sam Walker, community planning and permitting department, asked the commission to send SU-23-13 to the Board of County Commissioners with conditions that would limit occupancy to what the on-site wastewater treatment system can support and require completion of required building permits and floodplain corrections before rentals may commence. "Community planning and permitting staff are recommending that the Planning Commission recommend conditional approval of SU-23-13, the Riverside Cabins Lodge," Walker said during the hearing.

The recommendation matters to immediate neighbors and to the county because the site spans riparian areas and floodplain along North Saint Vrain Creek, includes existing unpermitted work that referrals flagged, and relies on a commercial well with restricted uses. Staff and referral agencies proposed conditions to address those issues before the use can operate under a new, permitted status.

Most important facts

- Applicant and property: The applicants are Micah Coles and Heidi Campbell; the agent is Tom Parko of Bruins Consulting. The lodging proposal covers roughly 4.3 acres in the Forestry Zoning District along North Saint Vrain Drive west of US 36 and northwest of Lyons; an adjoining parcel owned by Flatirons IRA LLC is involved in a boundary-line adjustment. The applicants originally requested a lodging capacity of up to 34 overnight guests.

- Staff conditions: Staff recommended conditions limiting overnight guests to the capacity of the existing onsite wastewater treatment system (public health records indicate the current system supports 28 guests), requiring that all unpermitted construction obtain final building permits before the use commences, removal of propane tanks from the floodplain overlay, submittal of a revegetation/maintenance plan to protect riparian buffers, an approved floodplain development permit for floodplain work, wildfire partnership certification and verification of an emergency water supply by the Lyons Fire Protection District, and required highway access permitting with the Colorado Department of Transportation and access improvements to meet county multimodal standards.

- Water and septic constraints: Referral responses noted a commercial well permit exists but was limited to internal (indoor) use of…