Elbert County planning commission delays decision on Sundance Solar after unresolved cultural, safety and financial questions

The Elbert County Planning Commission on Tuesday continued consideration of a 1041 permit and Special Use Review for the Sundance Solar project after commissioners said key information needed to evaluate approval criteria remained incomplete.

Commissioners voted to continue the item to a date-certain hearing on April 22, 2025, at 6 p.m., after multiple members raised unresolved questions about a cultural-resources survey overlay that, as presented at the meeting, appeared to overlap proposed array areas; wildlife and public‑safety commitments from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and local fire departments; the proposed decommissioning financial assurance; and other technical details staff and applicants agreed to provide before the next hearing.

Why it matters: The county is weighing whether the utility-scale solar facility meets statutory and local criteria that include protection of paleo‑historic and archaeological resources, public health and safety, and community character. Commissioners said they could not find sufficient documentary evidence in the record that those criteria, and related mitigation measures, had been demonstrated to the commission’s satisfaction.

During several hours of questioning and public testimony, representatives of the project developer, Cypress Creek Renewables, and its local subsidiary, Sundance, responded to queries from commissioners and nearby residents about whether certain studies and commitments were complete and where they appear in the application. Cypress Creek project representative Zach Bartholomew said, “the project actually is not funded by subsidies,” and that the company would supply additional documentation on request.

Attorneys and consultants for the applicant acknowledged gaps in the publicly posted site mapping and offered to provide confidential, higher-resolution shapefiles and related reports for county staff and commissioners. “We can provide the…