The Jefferson County Planning Commission on July 23 recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve a rezoning and Official Development Plan (ODP) amendment for 1212 Kerr Gulch Road in Evergreen (Case No. 23-1363669RZ) to allow conversion of an existing office building into up to four residential dwelling units.

Staff and the applicant told the commission the proposal would keep the existing building footprint and building height and would limit the total number of dwelling units to four. Reid Powers, the case manager with Jefferson County Planning & Zoning, summarized staff’s review and said the request meets the county’s rezoning criteria, including compatibility with surrounding residential uses, conformance with the Comprehensive Master Plan, mitigation of negative impacts, availability of infrastructure and services, and no expected adverse effects to public health, safety or welfare.

Powers said the ODP would permit single-family attached, duplex, townhome and multifamily housing types only within the existing building footprint and would cap the total number of dwelling units at four. He also said Evergreen Metropolitan District and Evergreen Fire Protection provided will-serve letters confirming water, sanitation and fire service for the site, and county engineers reviewed traffic and found the existing road network adequate.

Applicant representative Shaffer (last name spelled S-H-A-F-F-E-R) told the commissioners the owners—Anne and Mike Moore and Gray and Nicole Bearhorst—intend to reuse the existing 5,500-ish square-foot building and not expand the building footprint. Shaffer said the applicant anticipates a mix of one one-bedroom unit and three two-bedroom units (seven bedrooms total) with an estimated maximum occupancy of seven to 10 people and no exterior footprint expansion. He said proposed detached garages would be located on the existing parking area, be limited to 25 feet in height, and be screened by fencing, landscaping and topography.

Neighbors and other members of the public offered testimony both for and against the rezoning. Speakers who opposed the project raised concerns about reduced setbacks for accessory structures, increased density in a predominantly single-family area, wildfire evacuation on the single access route, and the possibility of a precedent for rezoning other agricultural properties. Lance Bunch, Don Fishbein, Ryan Shepherd and Jeffrey Ryan were among nearby residents who questioned compatibility and precedent. Supporters, including John Briggs and a mobile-home-park owner who spoke as an affordable housing proponent, said the proposal adds small, attainable units in Evergreen.

During the public comment period, the applicant and staff responded to questions about accessory setbacks, traffic methodology and wildfire mitigation. Powers explained the county’s traffic review evaluates a site’s current maximum allowed use (the existing PD allowing up to about 5,000 square feet of office and up to 25 employees) against the traffic expected from the proposed residential use. The applicant presented a traffic study that estimated average daily trips would drop from about 49 trips per day (office maximum) to about 30 trips per day for the proposed residential use.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about building reuse versus replacement, parking, wildfire mitigation and whether the ODP allows subdivision into separate lots. The applicant said the clear intent is adaptive reuse of the existing building to create up to four units; the ODP permits flexibility (duplex/townhome/multifamily) to allow different unit configurations but does not propose detached single-family houses. Commissioners were told that if the owners pursued a multifamily configuration (three or more units on a lot) they would follow an administrative site development plan; if they subdivided into up to four lots the subdivision would require public hearings and Board of County Commissioners approval.

Commissioner Larocque and several colleagues said they viewed the request as an adaptive reuse of a commercial property in an area of stability and noted the Comprehensive Master Plan recommends considering residential uses for some commercial properties in stability areas. After discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval to the Board of County Commissioners; the motion passed unanimously. The Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to hear the case on August 12.

The planning commission’s recommendation does not authorize construction. If the rezoning is approved by the Board of County Commissioners, the applicants would next file either a site development plan (for a multifamily configuration) or a subdivision and subsequent building and grading permits depending on the final project configuration.