Montrose County planning panel recommends two rezones near Highway 550 to county commissioners

The Montrose County Planning Commission on Dec. 9 unanimously recommended that two adjacent parcels near the southeast corner of Uncompahgre Road and U.S. Highway 550 be rezoned from General Agricultural to General Business and forwarded those recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The commission voted 4-0 on each recommendation.

The commission opened a continued public hearing on the Bartel rezone (about 3 acres) and an adjacent parcel known in the packet as the Old School Lodge rezone (about 2.2 acres). Planning staff explained the master-plan node concept for commercial development along Highway 550 and said the county evaluates traffic impacts at the site-development (building permit/site plan) stage rather than at rezoning. "The traffic impacts are then studied at site development," Planning staff member Talmadge told the commission, explaining why no traffic study was prepared for the rezoning hearing.

The applicant’s attorney, Ryan Callahan, told commissioners the parcels have been treated as mixed use by the assessor for roughly two decades, producing a higher tax assessment. "All we're seeking today is to bring up to the rezone and the category of zoning of what my clients intended to use it as and has used it as in the past," Callahan said, arguing the rezone would align zoning with how the parcel has been used and assessed.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant about past uses and enforcement. Talmadge said a 2022 cease-and-desist letter dealt with an RV repair use; he also noted that assessor determinations are based on use rather than zoning and that legal nonconforming uses can persist. The commission reviewed written public comments that raised concerns about traffic, lighting, noise and viewsheds; the chair referenced the county master plan and access-control work for the corridor. "The master plan on page 40 and 41 in appendix B spells out these nodes very clearly," the chair said while discussing the node policy and the county’s intent to concentrate commercial development at specific intersections.

Both rezoning recommendations were approved on motions citing compliance with the master-plan criteria and will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners at a publicly noticed hearing expected Jan. 7 at the courthouse. The planning staff said any required traffic studies, access changes or buffering would be handled during the site-plan and building-permit review if the BOCC approves the rezones.

The commission’s action is a recommendation; the final decision rests with the county commissioners, who will accept additional written comment prior to their hearing.