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Elbert County approves Cook rezone in Elbert and waives open-space fee for historic lot configuration
Summary
The Board approved a partial rezone of 24395 Main Street in Elbert from commercial to Residential 2 (RZ2024-2439) and granted the applicant's request to waive the open-space cash‑in‑lieu fee, a county official said. Staff and referrals found no outstanding service or safety impacts.
The Elbert County Board of County Commissioners on May 7 approved a request to rezone part of the property at 24395 Main Street in the town of Elbert from commercial to Residential 2 (Case RZ2024-2439) and separately approved a waiver of the open-space cash‑in‑lieu fee requested by property owner Oliver Cook.
County land use planner Danny Kilburn told the board the subject parcel is approximately 0.58 acres and that the applicant sought to rezone roughly half of the lot (about 0.276 acres) to Residential 2 while retaining commercial zoning on the eastern portion of the parcel. Kilburn said the parcel has an existing residence and a former commercial pad; the applicant demolished an older commercial structure that was deteriorating.
Kilburn reported that referral agencies — including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Geological Survey, Mountain View Electric Association, Division of Water Resources, Elbert Fire and Elbert Water and Sanitation District — reviewed the application and had no outstanding objections once the applicant supplied updated water-district information. Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions; the Planning Commission vote was 5–1 in favor.
There was no public opposition at the community meeting or Planning Commission that resulted in submitted comments, Kilburn said. The Board voted to approve the rezone with the conditions listed in the staff report; conditions include removal of public-hearing signs within seven days, payment of applicable fees and recordation of the rezone exhibit within the county's required timeframe.
After the rezone motion carried, the board considered Cook’s separate request to waive the county’s open-space cash‑in‑lieu fee for the subdivision tied to the rezone. Cook told the board the situation is unique because the historic Frick’s plat had not separately identified residential and commercial lots; he said he purchased the parcel in that configuration and is now requesting the separate lots be recognized without the typical cash‑in‑lieu assessment. One commissioner raised a concern about setting a precedent for fee waivers; another commissioner said the request was different because no additional open-space would be lost and the cash-in-lieu would not generate additional open-space benefit.
The board granted the waiver; the motion carried. The rezone similarly carried on an affirmative vote. Staff noted the rezone will not become effective until conditions are met and the exhibit is recorded, and the applicant must remove public-hearing signs within seven days of the decision.
Cook’s formal request and the board’s action address a long-standing anomaly on the town’s platting records, the applicant said. Commissioners urged consistent application of fee waivers going forward and emphasized the importance of documented, case-by-case justification when the board considers exceptions.
