Routt County commissioners table Perez Parking Lot special-use permit over drainage concerns

Routt County commissioners on April 1 tabled a special-use permit application (PL20240068) for a parking lot on State Highway 131 in the town of Pittsburgh so county Road and Bridge staff and the applicant can determine whether recent work on the site has worsened seasonal drainage that affects a neighboring property.

County planning staff said the site, which the applicant has used for vehicle storage for a drywall business, was determined under the Unified Development Code to be an automobile parking lot and thus requires a special-use permit in the HT (Historic Town) zoning district. Planning staff told commissioners the applicant requests variances for sidewalks and required public space; staff and the planning commission recommended approval with a condition addressing drainage, or alternatively a one-month tabling to allow Road and Bridge to evaluate runoff.

The matter matters to neighbors because a seasonal channel (“seasonal creek”) that traverses nearby parcels reportedly floods for a brief period in spring. An adjacent landowner, Sarah Cherry, who identified herself as co-owner of the parcel west of the site, told commissioners she and her husband provided photos showing the creek backing up onto their property and said the front culvert and driveway work on the Perez parcel were installed without permits. Cherry said she and her husband “have 0 objection to the applicant’s current use of the property, as long as the stormwater drainage issue in the spring months that affect our property are dealt with.”

Applicant representative Jim Stegmaier of Yampa Valley Engineering said the site is used to park the applicant’s vehicles and trailers overnight and that the temporary shed on the lot lacks a foundation and will require a building permit if the special-use permit is approved. Stegmaier and planning staff said the lot is currently gravel (permeable) and that the county’s parking-lot standards for water quality would apply if the surface were made impervious.

Planning staff explained the sidewalk variance request stems from the county’s Unified Development Code lacking clear, enforceable sidewalk placement standards—especially in tiered areas—and agreed with the applicant that requiring a sidewalk without clearer rules would be unfair. Staff said public-space requirements in the UDC are intended for nonresidential sites where people are expected to gather and that the requirement does not further the master plan’s intent when applied to a private parking lot.

After hearing from staff, the applicant and neighbors, commissioners debated two paths: (1) approve the permit with a condition that the permit not be issued until Road and Bridge and the applicant determine the extent of any drainage issues and mitigate per public-works requirements, or (2) table the application for about one month so Road and Bridge could perform field evaluation and return recommendations. Several commissioners said they preferred to see Road and Bridge’s findings before issuing a permit; others said they were comfortable approving now with the condition that work be completed before the permit is issued.

A motion to table the application was made and seconded; commissioners voted to table PL20240068 to May 13, 2025. The motion specified that staff and the applicant determine the extent of drainage issues caused by the use and that the applicant mitigate any issues per public-works requirements before permit issuance.

Road and Bridge staff told the board they expect to complete an evaluation and offer recommendations within about a month and that the planning staff had drafted a condition of approval (condition 14) to require mitigation per public works prior to issuance if the board chose not to table.

Next steps: the application will be returned to the Board of County Commissioners on May 13, 2025 for further consideration after Road and Bridge and the applicant assess and, if necessary, mitigate drainage impacts. The permit will not be issued until the public-works requirements in the motion/condition are satisfied.