Clear Creek hears Bellevue Mountain Resort sketch plan; staff recommends approval while neighbors and Gilpin County flag road, water and wildfire concerns

Clear Creek County commissioners on Dec. 16 heard a multi-hour sketch-plan presentation for the proposed Bellevue Mountain Resort, a plan to rezone roughly 227 acres north of Idaho Springs to a Planned Development for a lodge, event space, parking deck, dispersed cabins and about 7 miles of recreational trails.

Staff planning manager Garrett McAllister told the board the application met the zoning standards for a sketch-plan review and that planning staff and the planning commission (which recommended approval 2–1) had identified a set of conditions to address remaining issues. McAllister said the applicant proposes an overall development footprint restriction of 20% of total acreage, but the current sketch-plan development is roughly 4 acres (well under county thresholds), and staff judged the project to be low-impact if the outstanding technical items are resolved.

The applicant team described the proposal as low-density and conservation-focused while generating local spending. Lead developer Chad Holmes said the project is a long-term, locally invested effort…