ELDORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At a Sept. 4 public comment period, a longtime Eldorado Springs homeowner urged Boulder County commissioners to provide flexibility after county changes reduced presumptive maximum house sizes in the town sites.
Eric Swing, who said he has owned his home in Eldorado Springs for 30 years, told the board that recent rule changes cut a presumptive maximum that had allowed up to about 3,000 square feet on larger lots to a uniform 1,500 square feet for many town‑site parcels. “Up until the rule change, I could have built a 3,000-ish square foot home. And now that's been cut in half to 1,500 square feet,” Eric Swing said, adding that the change had a large effect on the market value of his property.
Swing said the county’s earlier Town Site Work Group in 2011 had recommended a two-tier system — 1,500 square feet for lots under one‑third of an acre and 3,000 square feet for larger lots — and asked staff to consider a sliding scale or similar flexibility. He said he had discussed the issue with county planners, who revised an early proposal to include a sliding scale for other neighborhoods, but he asked for additional flexibility for Eldorado Springs specifically.
Commissioner Marta Levy responded during board comment: the county’s recent change removed a practice that used two adjacent properties to set a presumptive maximum because that approach produced inconsistent, small local exceptions. Levy said staff removed the adjacent-property exception in favor of a flat 100% of the median to improve consistency.
Discussion vs. decision: The public comment raised specific requests to revisit the town-site sizing rule; commissioners described the rule change rationale but took no formal vote Sept. 4.
Why this matters: The change affects property owners in defined town-site neighborhoods, including potential resale value, historic neighborhood character and options for older homeowners seeking to modify or expand housing on their lots.
What’s next: The resident asked land-use staff to explore options to add flexibility or apply a sliding scale consistent with the 2011 Town Site Work Group recommendations; staff has engaged on the topic but no formal amendment was presented at the Sept. 4 meeting.