Park County commissioners voted Aug. 6 to authorize staff to prepare a resolution to rezone 645 Kokanee Road in Fairplay from residential to rural center mixed-use (MU), enabling the applicant to build a combined residence-and-shop “barndominium” to house and maintain snowplow equipment.

County planner Rob Thorsheim described the 5-acre lot in the Fourmile Fishing Club subdivision and told the board that staff found the site topographically suitable and that adjacent properties include commercial uses. “The applicant’s proposed mixed use building is compatible with these surrounding developments,” Thorsheim said, noting the Planning Commission recommended approval 4–1.

Applicant Zephyr Walzalan, who joined the hearing by Zoom, said the request was intended primarily to allow storage and occasional maintenance of company plow trucks at her home address rather than to operate a public-facing repair shop. “We do plan to provide more service to, like, the surrounding community for Park County,” she said, and added she expects most vehicles to be on job sites and with employees rather than parked at the property.

Commissioners asked about noise, hours and vehicle counts. Zephyr said equipment maintenance would generally occur during daytime hours (roughly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and that trucks sometimes leave earlier for plowing on snow days. She estimated only one or two pieces of equipment would be parked at the property at a time because most vehicles are on job sites. Commissioners said those conditions, plus the applicant’s willingness to communicate with neighbors about issues, supported rezoning in this case.

At the conclusion of deliberations the board voted 3-0 to ask staff to prepare a formal resolution approving the MU rezoning; the resolution will return to the board for final action at a subsequent meeting.