A Boulder County resident told commissioners that a recent change to the SPR (a provision of the county land-use code) reduced the presumptive maximum home size in Eldorado Springs town site from a previously flexible formula to a hard cap of 1,500 square feet, and that the change was made in error.

"Up until the rule change, I could have built a 3,000-ish square-foot home there. That's been cut in half to 1,500 square feet," said Eric Swin, an Eldorado Springs homeowner. Swin described his 350-square-foot home on a half-acre parcel as his retirement asset and said the smaller cap would substantially lower the property's market value.

Swin said the town-site cap had historically allowed either a 1,500-square-foot threshold or 125% of median home size, and larger homes when adjacent neighbors were larger; he told commissioners that an error in materials presented during a Dec. 10 public information session introduced the hard 1,500-square-foot cap. He asked the board to add flexibility, such as a sliding scale, for town sites that have no "monster homes."

Chair Lochanin and Commissioner Levy acknowledged the comment. Levy said she had been under a misimpression about the change and did not realize the maximum had been reduced in the town sites; she said the board would have to decide whether to reopen the change and that commissioners had not yet had a substantive discussion among themselves on reversing it.

No formal amendment or vote was taken at the meeting. Commissioners encouraged the speaker to submit documentation by email and noted staff would review materials and return with information. The county's comprehensive plan and the text of the land-use code were discussed by the speaker as background to his request.

The resident provided a factual claim about the change in the adopted rule and requested a specific remedy; commissioners said they would follow up through staff but did not set a timeline for reopening or amending the code.