After lengthy public testimony on wildfire and egress, commissioners approve Hidden Creek Estates rezoning and final plat

On Jan. 8 the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved both a zone change and a final plat for Hidden Creek Estates, voting 4–1 to rezone a 3.54-acre portion of a 28.54-acre parcel from RR-5 to RR-2.5 and to approve a six-lot final plat served by a private road.

Planning staff said the proposal includes substantial conservation and no-build areas — more than 50 percent of the property — and that technical reviews had confirmed water sufficiency, drainage, septic suitability and that Monument Fire and other reviewers had no outstanding objections for this project-level evaluation. Engineer Daniel Torres described a box culvert crossing at the floodplain and said drainage and road designs meet county criteria for this private road configuration.

Applicant representatives and the property owner, James Hull, said the plan preserves more than half the parcel as open space, includes fire-mitigation plat notes, and that the private road design meets fire apparatus turning-radius and emergency-access requirements. The applicant also noted the landowner had dedicated right-of-way years earlier and that Lot 2’s reduced acreage arises in part from an historical right-of-way dedication.

Public testimony was substantial and overwhelmingly opposed. Dozens of neighbors and expert commenters argued the Hay Creek Road corridor functions as a single-entry box canyon with constrained shoulders, steep drop-offs and limited evacuation options. Speakers — including local residents, wildfire experts, attorneys and former wildfire survivors — urged denial or tabling pending a canyon-wide evacuation and fire-access analysis. Themes included that the county code’s limit on lots served by a dead-end road (8.4.4) can be interpreted narrowly, that cumulative development had already exceeded safe thresholds, and requests that the county require secondary egress or significant road improvements before allowing more lots.

Applicant counsel and staff responded that the application met the master plan and land-development code criteria and that the private road and plat notes addressed fire mitigation. Planning staff noted the planning commission recommended approval 7–1 and that reviewing agencies — including Monument Fire and the Air Force Academy reviewers — ultimately had no outstanding objections at the project level after resubmissions.

On the motions before the board, Vice Chair Williams moved approval of the rezoning and the final plat; the motions passed 4–1 with Commissioner Wysong dissenting. The approval included the waivers for private road standards shown on the final plat and recorded plat notes addressing floodplain no-build areas, steep-slope protections, and fire-mitigation requirements. Commissioners and staff acknowledged the broader policy questions raised by the public and several commissioners urged the neighborhood and county to pursue canyon-wide mitigation and code updates.

Because the approvals rely on multiple engineering and plat notes, future construction and any additional subdivisions will require review for drainage, access, and state/county water sufficiency. The rezoning is filed as P 2413 and the final plat as SF 205003 in county records.