Planning commission backs rezoning for former Mesa Verde pottery site with conditions to protect nearby cemetery

The Montezuma County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 to recommend the Board of County Commissioners approve a commercial rezoning and high-impact permit for the former Mesa Verde Pottery building at 27601 Highway 160, allowing a visitor center, museum and a vendor village on about 4.05 acres.

The applicant, agent Beth Cascaden representing the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, told the commission the building has existing utilities and that Montezuma Water Company “states that they already have service there with a 1 inch commercial meter.” Cascaden said the applicant has a sewer permit and has retained a traffic engineering firm to provide an updated access study for CDOT.

The recommendation came after neighbors, including representatives of the Cortez cemetery board, raised concerns about the vendor village’s proximity to Cortez Cemetery, potential noise during funerals and future cemetery expansion. Ed Rice of the Cortez Cemetery Board asked that the applicant “put a privacy fence up along their west edge between their property and our property, just to hopefully divert some of that noise and commotion.”

Commissioners and the applicant negotiated conditions intended to limit impacts on funerals and neighbors: the commission’s motion includes a requirement that the parties agree on an appropriate privacy fence along the shared property line and that outdoor music be acoustic only (the motion specified “acoustical music only; no electric music”). The applicant agreed in the hearing that vendor activity could be shut down during funerals and that any drumming or musical performances would not be held during ceremonies.

Department staff reported CDOT has jurisdiction over the site access and that the original driveway permit dated to 1980; staff noted Montezuma Water Company has a mainline there and the property already has electric service. Commissioners asked staff to clarify an assessor vs. GIS acreage discrepancy (assessor listed 2.3 acres, GIS 4.05 acres); staff said GIS is accurate and the assessor records reflect agricultural taxation on portions outside the building footprint.

Motion and vote: the commission’s motion to recommend approval with the conditions passed 4-1 (Commissioners Saunders, Nygaard, Armstrong and Doyle voted yes; Commissioner Lynch voted no). No formal amendments beyond the fence and acoustical-music conditions were recorded in the public hearing. The commission’s recommendation will now go to the Board of County Commissioners for a final decision.

The commission opened the matter to public comment; cemetery-board members and neighbors spoke about the need to preserve funeral sanctity and suggested a fence and tree row buffers. The applicant said staff training (including first aid and CPR) and building repairs are underway and that the vendor area would not operate full time.

Next steps: the planning commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners. The applicant said it would provide the traffic study and the existing CDOT access permit for review by county staff.