Developers outline 5,700-acre Elbert County PUD; residents press for water and transparency

Mark Keefer, a planning consultant for the Colorado Plains Ranch project, presented a conceptual plan for a roughly 5,700‑acre planned unit development in Elbert County and answered concerns from residents at a May 11 community meeting.

Keefer told attendees the project team envisions four business sectors — industrial agriculture, industrial/technology, energy and transportation — and that the PUD rezoning would define allowable uses, development standards and county oversight. “For the purposes of this presentation, I’m going to refer to it as a 5,700 acre site,” Keefer said during his overview. He emphasized the PUD process gives the county additional regulatory controls compared with existing agricultural zoning.

Why it matters: the proposal covers more acreage than many Elbert County municipalities and could reshape land use along State Highway 86 and nearby corridors. The development team said the first 15 years would focus on governmental district services — formation of a metro district, infrastructure, and agreements with local fire and road agencies — while other phases could roll out over decades.

Keefer described regional infrastructure that the team views as assets: interstate gas and large transmission lines, nearby Cedar Ridge and Rush Creek wind farms, fiber along I‑70 and an existing rail corridor. He said the land‑use plan is layered, with higher intensity uses concentrated along Highway 86, more industrial uses in inner rings and agriculture and preserved floodplain on the outer portions of the site. The presenter said “we are not talking about wind energy production on this site” but that solar and battery storage could be allowed.

On data centers and heavy industry, Keefer said the PUD would permit data centers as a use but that “there is no data center right now that is on the books,” and that any such user would be subject to PUD standards limiting water and energy impacts. The team is preparing an economic impact study and said local use taxes on improvements would directly benefit Elbert County.

Residents asked detailed questions about project scale, investor intent, traffic and public services. Keefer said investors are Colorado‑based and that he could not at the meeting provide full investor banking details; he said the PUD standards and subsequent county hearings provide public review opportunities. He also said required studies — including traffic analyses and referral reviews by fire, sheriff, road and bridge and state agencies — are part of the process.

The meeting lasted more than an hour, and Keefer invited attendees to sign in and follow project materials at coloradoplainsranch.com. The project remains at an early stage: Keefer said the team is assembling studies and preparing a formal rezoning application to the county planning commission, which would lead to public hearings before the Board of County Commissioners.