Douglas County commissioners table Pinery 40 rezoning after contentious hearing over horses and density

Douglas County commissioners on July 22, 2025, voted unanimously to table consideration of the Pinery 40 Plan Development 30 First Amendment — a proposal to rezone roughly 47 acres north of Bayou Gulch and allow 44 single-family lots and a centralized equestrian area — after hearing an applicant presentation and more than two hours of public comment.

The action came after the board first agreed to untable the item and hear the applicant’s updated plan. The applicant said the revised proposal responds to comments from the board and neighbors by preserving about 12.5 acres for a private equestrian area, including a central roughly 6-acre riding arena and a hay barn with up to 20 stalls. The applicant also said the homeowners association (HOA) would own and maintain the equestrian structures while individual horse owners would bear the costs of feed and care.

County staff and the applicant framed the changes as an attempt to balance the development vision with community requests. “We have now dictated 12 and a half acres of land that we are proposing a land use for a private equestrian center,” said Russell Hall of Highline Engineering and Surveying Company, the project’s engineer. Hall and other members of the applicant team described the equestrian area as recreational rather than a competition venue like the adjacent Colorado Horse Park.

Neighbors and regional equestrian interests pushed back. Several residents and leaders of nearby HOAs told commissioners they continued to prefer the property’s original equestrian-estate zoning — which would allow about 15 lots of 2.5 acres each — and said the proposed 44-lot plan would increase stormwater and erosion risks, saddle a small HOA with the cost of running a specialized equestrian facility, and create safety issues where horses, service vehicles and recreational users could conflict.

“Selling homes to support 20 horses would mean that the majority of homeowners would end up subsidizing overhead costs for a service that many may not use,” said Jen Schultz, president of High Prairie Farms 1A Homeowners Association. Susan De Silva, an equine videographer and trainer, told commissioners the compact, HOA-run barn and riding area in the center of the subdivision would be unsafe and impractical for routine equestrian care.

Other commenters supported the project for housing supply and economic reasons. Rob Lohr of the Douglas County Economic Development Corporation said the 44 single-family homes would help meet workforce housing needs tied to county employers. The applicant also said it has submitted more than 100 letters of support and held several neighborhood meetings during the past two-and-a-half years.

Commissioners expressed sharply divided views about whether the application met the county’s planned-development approval criteria, including Section 15-20.01 (standards, commitments and overall intent of the planned development). Some commissioners said the applicant had made meaningful changes since January and that the rezoning request fits surrounding development patterns; others said the applicant had not meaningfully engaged the immediate neighborhood during the six months since the item was first heard and that critical technical and stewardship questions remained.

After extended deliberation the board voted to table the application so the applicant can attempt further outreach and negotiation with neighbors. A motion to table passed unanimously. Earlier in the hearing the board had voted to untable and hear the applicant’s revised proposal.

Next steps: The application remains tabled; commissioners indicated they expect the applicant to hold additional, earlier-in-process outreach with immediate neighbors and with equestrian stakeholders (including the Colorado Horse Park) before the board considers the amendment again. The board set its next land-use meeting for Aug. 12, 2025 at 2:30 p.m.