Elbert County commissioners hear Fox Haven PUD concept brief; water and wastewater plans highlighted

Byron McDaniel, Elbert County district 3 commissioner, opened a concept briefing on the Fox Haven planned unit development at 1:01 p.m. Feb. 19, saying no decisions would be made at the session. Developers and consultants presented a site plan for a roughly 76-acre parcel north of Highway 86, a few miles west of Elizabeth, and described a layout of about 103 residential lots consistent with R-2 lot sizing.

The presentation by Alan Cunningham of PCS Group emphasized topography, drainage and preservation of mature Ponderosa pines. "There's a pretty decent sized drainage on the property," Cunningham said, noting steep (20%+) slopes along drainage corridors that make much of the Highway 86 frontage difficult to develop. The concept preserves roughly 43% of the site as open space and includes two interior park areas of about 2.5 acres each, plus about 11 acres of buffer on the north and about 20 acres on the south.

Charlie Keener, the civil engineer, outlined the intended wastewater approach, describing a centralized "package plant" and leach field on the low side of the site to serve the community. "That's a fancy word for septic system for the community," Keener said, explaining the system would include gravity-fed collection, localized treatment and a designated leach field.

On water supply, the team said a water-adjudication study prepared for the county (following the county's 300-year rule) would allow up to 105 units; the proposed plan of about 103 lots is slightly under that figure. Keener read from the project's water-supply report, stating the development's total demand at 31.57 acre-feet per year and that the report identifies the Lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe and Laramie Fox Hills aquifers as available to meet that demand. "The quantity and quality of the water is considered sufficient to meet the demands of Fox Haven Development," Keener said, citing the report's findings.

Commissioners sought further verification on aquifer use, asking whether the Upper Dawson aquifer had been excluded from the calculations. A commissioner reading from the consultant's October letter noted that, at the time of that report, the Upper Dawson was not included in an improved augmentation plan and therefore "is not available today to meet the demand." Presenters agreed to confirm those details with the consultant and to provide follow-up information to staff and the board.

Several commissioners and the owner, George Mattioni, discussed interconnection with adjacent projects for shared water or wastewater infrastructure. Mattioni said he had informal conversations with nearby project owners about sharing drilled-well capacity but that no agreement existed. Commissioners also emphasized the value of future internal connectivity to reduce traffic pressure on major arterials.

Market context was raised briefly: a developer representative said the product is likely to be semi-custom homes on quarter-acre lots, not production homes, and suggested finished home prices would be unlikely to fall below about $1 million.

Planning Manager Jennifer Jones told the board the county's updated water master plan (approved late last year) contains newer population and demand estimates than some older materials in the project's packet; the staff report lists Elbert County's 2022 population at roughly 27,800 with projections in the mid-30,000s by 2050.

The concept briefing closed at 1:29 p.m. with no formal action taken; the project team and staff agreed to follow up with written verification on aquifer usage, the water-adjudication findings and any additional technical details requested by commissioners.