Elbert County commissioners approve Running Creek RV storage with conditions after traffic safety debate

Elbert County commissioners approved a conditional use permit for Running Creek RV Storage (EDZ 2024-3548) on June 25, 2025, after extended discussion about traffic safety near a nearby high school and middle school.

A county-appointed traffic engineer and the project’s traffic consultant offered differing evaluations of whether auxiliary turn lanes were warranted for the site’s access on County Road 13. Dave Ruble, a traffic consultant who said he has done traffic studies in Colorado for 26 years, told the board that Colorado practice and the state highway access code base lane requirements on peak turning movements at the access, not on overall traffic volume past the access. “When you talk about the need for auxiliary traffic lanes, it is solely based on the traffic entering and leaving that access,” Ruble said. He added that safety considerations affect design and possible turn prohibitions but are not the statutory basis for requiring auxiliary lanes.

Monty Hankins, Elbert County public works director, said county staff reviewed updated analyses and recommended turn lanes in light of the hill and the proximity of a school. “I then did send out a letter saying that I recommended turn lanes associated with the RV park to ensure safety per the hill, per the school,” Hankins said.

John Goudreau, the property owner and applicant, told commissioners he had invested in required studies and design work and said he would accept mitigation measures. Goudreau described the project as a family effort to retain and finance a long-held property, said he had spent more than $60,000 to get to this point, and told the board, “I will put as many trees up that needs to be. … My word is my word.”

Commissioners discussed the independence and technical relevance of an accident-investigator letter submitted shortly before the hearing; several commissioners said the late submission complicated review. One commissioner framed the issue as balancing property rights and children’s safety, noting the schools and school buses on the route.

After public comment and discussion, a commissioner moved to approve the Running Creek RV Storage EDZ 2024-3548 subject to the four conditions listed in the staff recommendation. The board voted to approve the application; the clerk recorded the motion as carried with all commissioners voting in favor.

The approval included standard conditions from the staff report and the previously negotiated site conditions; commissioners noted discussion points about whether a left-turn lane or lesser turn-lane improvements (right-turn decel/accel) should be required. County staff indicated turn lanes were feasible within right-of-way and that lowering the posted speed limit near the hill and school could be explored as an additional mitigation.

The board opened and closed the public hearing on the item in the same session. The county attorney and project applicants were instructed to coordinate any final permit language and to supply the record copies of the consultant letters that had been exchanged among parties.

The decision does not itself authorize construction; subsequent permitting, engineering approvals and any required construction of off-site improvements will be handled by county permitting and road-and-bridge staff under the conditions of approval.