The Sunrise Manor Town Advisory Board on May 29 denied a developer's request to renew waivers of development standards for a vehicle sales facility on Boulder Highway after a public hearing and questions about the site's permitting history.

The decision came after Marcelino Gonzales, identified at the hearing as the applicant, and Dennis Rush, architect for the project, told the board the site has housed vehicle sales or similar uses for decades and that the current owners acquired the property in August 2024 and had been trying to obtain business licenses since then. Gonzales said the property has “absolutely no new construction” and argued that a change to Title 30 of the county code should not “punish existing property owners and existing businesses.”

Board members pressed the applicant on landscaping, setbacks and a prior five‑year review. One board member asked why the owner would not bring the frontage up to current landscaping standards, telling the applicant, “If we're gonna try to start improving our community, why is there a reason of not wanting to do that?” Gonzales replied that the existing buildings date to the 1980s and that requiring immediate upgrades would be “premature” unless the owners were undertaking new physical improvements.

Staff recommended denial of the requests related to landscaping and one other waiver; the board moved to follow staff’s recommendation. A motion “to follow staff recommendation” carried with the vote called verbally; board members answered “Aye.” The board also discussed that a use permit associated with the site had lapsed (the five‑year review dates back to the 1990s) and that the property had been operating without an active use permit for years, an issue raised repeatedly during the hearing.

The board treatment distinguished discussion from action: much of the hearing was discussion of the property's history, the impact of Title 30 changes, and the applicants' outreach to planning staff and the commissioner. The formal action was the board voting to follow staff recommendations to deny the specified waivers. The denial does not itself prevent the owners from seeking further review at higher hearings or submitting revised plans that respond to staff conditions.

The board hearing record shows no public commenters stepped forward on this item. The applicant said he had met with the planning commissioner on site and would consider upgrades when physical improvements were made.