Planning commission backs Richard Lands composting special-use request with dust-control, fencing conditions

ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — The Elbert County Planning Commission voted Jan. 7 to recommend the Board of County Commissioners approve a special-use by review (SUR 2023-1558) for Richard Lands Composting, a proposed Class II composting facility at 15585 County Road 166 in Kiowa.

The commission’s recommendation, which passed by voice roll call, included staff’s standard recording and permitting conditions and two added requirements: dust-control measures for the section of County Road 166 affected by truck traffic and county-required fencing or other security as necessary to prevent debris migration and illegal dumping. The measure now goes to the Board of County Commissioners for final action.

The proposal would place a composting operation on a 39.25-acre agricultural parcel. According to staff and the applicant’s materials, the facility would accept agricultural feedstocks — large- animal manure and bedding, straw and hay, woody waste, yard and agricultural plant waste — and operate under an engineering design and operations plan (EDOP) approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and…