Woodland Park planners remove auto-repair entitlement, restore residential use on Sturman PUD lot

Woodland Park Planning Commission on Aug. 14 voted unanimously to remove an entitlement for an automotive vehicle repair and maintenance shop from Lot 1 of the Sturman planned unit development (PUD), reverting that parcel to single-family residential and leaving other PUD uses in place.

Planner CJ Gates told the commission the 2 lots at issue were annexed into Woodland Park and placed in a PUD in 2000 and that a 2019 PUD amendment authorized automotive repair on Lot 1 even though that use was never established: “Because the use was approved by planning commission, that entitlement still stands,” Gates said. The current owners, Carolyn and Tommy Domini (Domini Family Living Trust), asked the city to amend the PUD to end the automotive entitlement and make both lots primarily residential while retaining home-occupation, bed-and-breakfast and vacation-rental language.

The change was debated at length because of a broader municipal ordinance adopted in December 2023 that restricts some short-term rental (STR) uses and a two-year period during which voter-installed ordinance language cannot be altered. Commissioners and staff discussed whether the Domini request would in effect add a “nonprimary” short-term rental use that the city’s zoning table does not list as permitted in PUDs. Planning director Karen Schmick and city staff told the commission the PUD language as written includes “vacation rental,” but the more contemporary phrasing “nonprimary resident short-term rental” created confusion and could be inconsistent with the city’s STR ordinance.

Applicant Carolyn Domini told the commission she and her husband had converted Lot 2 to their primary residence and were seeking to have Lot 1 returned to residential use after earlier owners had permitted commercial uses. “What we would like then is for it to revert back to the residential, not the automotive, keeping everything else as it was written in the PUD,” Domini said.

After deliberation commissioners made a motion to remove the automotive repair and maintenance shop entitlement for Lot 1, leave the remaining PUD entitlements for Lots 1 and 2 unchanged, and approve the amendment subject to the conditions listed in the staff report—conditions that include the requirement to obtain applicable development permits and to connect to city water if on-site well or septic systems fail. Commissioner Ken Kennedy made the motion and Vice Chair Larry Larson seconded. The roll call vote was Ken Kennedy — yes; Don Hoang — yes; Don Dezellan — yes; Vice Chair Larry Larson — yes; Chair Lee Brown — yes. The motion carried, 5–0.

Staff emphasized that the PUD amendment does not itself authorize operating a nonprimary short-term rental where the city’s zoning and licensing rules prohibit that use; any business license or future STR application would be reviewed under current municipal code and business-licensing rules. Gates noted utilities staff has indicated that water taps for future development on Lot 1 would need to comply with city policy and that if the existing on-site sewage disposal system (ISDS) or well on Lot 2 fails, the owner would be required to connect to city services.

The commission’s action amends the PUD to remove the auto-repair entitlement on Lot 1 and documents that Lots 1 and 2 retain the other uses listed in the PUD, subject to the development-permit, building-permit and licensing processes already required by the Woodland Park municipal code. The decision is final from the planning commission; staff will document the approval and the conditions in the meeting minutes and administrative files.