Planning commission backs ‘The Patch’ special-use review for seasonal events with limits and traffic study condition

The Elbert County Planning Commission recommended approval June 17 of a Special Use Review (case SUR-20024-7360) for The Patch, a long-running agritourism operation proposed for a roughly 110-acre parcel at 7360/7400 State Highway 86. The commission’s 5–3 vote forwards the application to the Board of County Commissioners with conditions including staff’s proposed requirements and additional limits the commission imposed on the scope of allowed activities and traffic mitigation.

Planning staff summarized the application and staff’s recommended conditions: require re-permitting of existing structures where commercial use is appropriate, require a traffic impact study to be submitted to CDOT and Elbert County Public Works within three years of county approval (and earlier if warranted), revise the Special Use Review exhibit to comply with county standards, require portable sanitation and sanitation plans, remove public notice signs within two weeks of final hearings, and record any required documents within 180 days of BOCC approval.

Applicants Dusty (Dustin) and Kathy Smith spoke for The Patch and described a history of seasonal…