Weld County commissioners on Wednesday approved a partial vacation of Use by Special Review permit USR1160, which planning staff said is associated with a coal mine and waste ash disposal site and is currently operated by a private energy company. Diane Aunts of the Department of Planning Services presented the request.

Aunts said, "This is a request for a partial vacation of USR 1160, which is a coal mine and a waste ash disposal site. It is currently operated by Coors Energy." She told commissioners the site is located just east of County Road 59 about 0.6 miles north of County Road 26 section line and that the vacation request was received on Aug. 7, 2025.

Aunts told the board the partial vacation is a condition of approval on USR 240027, a use-by-special-review that was conditionally approved May 21, 2025, for a solar energy facility. She said the applicant had received a technical revision approval from the Division of Reclamation and Mining Safety and that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had "stated that there are no concerns with the status of the certificate of designation and no vacation of the CD is required."

Ben Moline, identified in the record as representing the applicant, appeared and said he had no comments when given the opportunity to speak.

Commissioner Scott James moved to approve the partial vacation; Commissioner Lynette Peppler seconded. The chair called the question and the board approved the partial vacation by voice vote.

Planning staff recommended approval to ensure there would be no overlapping USR permits before recording the new solar-energy USR; the board's action removed the portion of USR1160 identified in the request so the county can finalize the filing associated with the conditionally approved solar project. No public opposition or conditions were recorded during the hearing.