Montezuma County continues hearing on proposed retail site at Road N after remand; public divided over traffic, rural character

The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday continued a remand hearing on a proposed retail sales use at 27078 Road N in the county’s commercial and industrial overlay, giving commissioners additional time to review new evidence submitted by the applicant and to allow the public to respond.

Attorney Tarnowski, representing the board at the start of the session, said the hearing was limited by a district‑court order remanding the case to the board for two narrow reasons: “The first is a due process issue relating to the sharing of that information that was submitted during the hearing by the public but was not submitted to the applicant, and the applicant was not afforded an opportunity to respond to those written comments. And the second issue is that the BOCC needs to issue a written decision as required by Montezuma County’s land use code.”

The application seeks approval of a high‑impact permit for a retail tenant on a 3.78‑acre parcel at the intersection of County Road N and State Highway 145. The application was previously heard by the planning commission and denied by the board on April 30, 2024; the applicant appealed and the district court ordered the two procedural items addressed on remand (04/11/2025). The remand hearing was described by the applicant as a “limited public hearing” to allow new evidence responding to written public submittals and to let the public comment on that new evidence.

App…