Elbert County Planning Commission recommends V Hill rezone and preliminary plat to BOCC with road and water conditions

The Elbert County Planning Commission on Oct. 21 voted to recommend approval to the Board of County Commissioners of a rezone and preliminary plat for a 57.5-acre property known as V Hill, contingent on conditions addressing water supply and private-road improvements.

Danny Klebanner, an Elbert County land-use planner, told the commission the proposal would rezone the parcel (parcel 8433200498) from agriculture to agriculture-residential and divide it into five lots of at least 10 acres each. He said referral agencies including the Division of Water Resources, Colorado Geological Survey, Kiowa Conservation District and the Elizabeth Fire Protection District reviewed the application and raised no objections to approval, while flagging standard advisories such as lot-specific geotechnical testing prior to building permits.

Why it matters: commissioners focused on two practical constraints for future homes — water and road access. Staff said the applicant’s water plan relies on individual wells and water rights that the Division of Water Resources found adequate for the development’s estimated need (about 0.7 acre-feet per lot, roughly 3.4 acre-feet total); Klebanner noted the property holds water rights including roughly 3.7 acre-feet from the Lower Dawson and additional allocations associated with the Denver aquifer.

Public comments centered on Private Road 23, which bisects the parcel. Christie Swigert, who lives on Private Road 23, said residents worry that five new homes will significantly increase heavy traffic and maintenance needs and asked whether the county would ever take over road maintenance. "We just had concerns with the maintenance for the road in the coming years," Swigert said, describing daily use and the potential for more delivery and service vehicles.

Staff and the applicant responded that Elbert County Public Works will not accept additional private roads for county maintenance as a matter of policy but that the final-plat process can require the applicant to construct or upgrade the road segment within the applicant’s property to Elbert County type‑1 standards and widen the easement from 40 to 60 feet where that is within the applicant’s control. Klebanner said the county may withhold driveway and building permits on the new lots until the road meets county standards.

Applicant representative Jill Repeller told the commission the V Hills family plans to occupy the five lots (the parents and adult children) and committed to working with neighbors on an access-easement alignment and private maintenance conversations. "We're more than happy to work with the existing neighbors on this and committed to doing that because it benefits everybody," Repeller said.

Commissioners debated enforceability of agreements beyond the applicant’s property and discussed Colorado Geological Survey advisory language and tree‑replacement rules (a mature tree is defined in local regulation as 10 inches in diameter, with replacement trees typically at least 6 feet tall).

In a pair of motions, the commission recommended approval of the rezone (RZ-2025-0004) and the preliminary plat (PP-2025-0002). Commissioners added preliminary-plat conditions to require that the development use the Denver aquifer as advised by the applicant’s water engineer, that the private road be improved to a type‑1 standard within the applicant’s property boundaries, and that the applicant make a good‑faith effort to establish a recorded shared private‑road maintenance agreement if the county will not accept the road for maintenance. The commission recorded the rezone recommendation as passing with ayes and no nays, and the preliminary-plat recommendation passed by roll call (ayes, no nays).

Votes at a glance: The commission made a recommendation of approval on both items to the BOCC. The preliminary plat motion included the added conditions requiring Denver aquifer use and a good‑faith recorded private‑road maintenance agreement.

What happens next: The commission’s recommendation goes to the Board of County Commissioners for final action; conditions noted by the commission (fees, recordation within 180 days, final plat and subdivision improvement agreement) must be met before approvals become effective.

Reported by: Danny Klebanner (staff), Jill Repeller (applicant representative), Christie Swigert (public commenter).