Hideout planning commission recommends rezoning and master development agreement for Elkhorn Springs with conditions

The Hideout Planning Commission voted July 17, 2025, to recommend that the Town Council approve rezoning for the Elkhorn Springs development and the related master development agreement (MDA), with multiple conditions attached including specified cash payments, limits on short‑term rentals and a five‑year timeline for the commercial pad.

The recommendation covers rezoning parcels in the Elkhorn Springs area from Mountain Zone to Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU), Residential 6 (R‑6), Residential 20 (R‑20), Residential 3 (R‑3) and Natural Preservation, and forwards the MDA that sets developer contributions and other obligations to the council for final action.

Why it matters: The MDA and rezoning enable a proposed 229‑unit development that includes single‑family homes, townhouses, stacked flats and a small commercial pad. Commissioners and staff said the project’s scale, private roads and requested waivers (cut/fill, slope, retaining walls and other standards) create long‑term fiscal and design tradeoffs for the town.

Key decisions and conditions - Cash payments and fees: The commission recorded that the MDA now proposes two upfront cash payments of $1,500,000 each (first payment and second payment). Staff also noted a continuing developer contribution calculated as a fraction of sales (discussed in public as roughly 0.4% of sale price), which town staff and the developer estimated would add several million dollars over buildout. - Short‑term rentals: The planning commission asked that short‑term/nightly rentals be restricted to units in the NMU and R‑20 portions of the project (stacked flats and townhomes), and removed from single‑family lots in the developer’s proposal. - Commercial pad: The small commercial parcel (roughly a 14,000‑square‑foot lot on the plan) was left in the MDA but the commission added conditions: the developer must either construct the agreed commercial building within five…