Commissioners approve two rezonings: South Spring Gulch patent correction and St. Mary's parcels to commercial outdoor recreation

At a pair of public hearings the Clear Creek County Board of Commissioners approved two zoning amendments.

R26-43 (RZ2026-02) corrected a parcel that had been erroneously severed from a former BLM patent. Planning staff said reclassifying the parcel from M2 to M1 removes split zoning and allows the county to quitclaim the parcel back to the rightful owner under the county's public-lands transfer procedures. The application drew no public opposition; staff and the planning commission recommended approval and the board granted the rezoning.

R26-44 (RZ2026-01) would rezone five parcels on the west side of Fall River Road in the St. Mary's area from a mix of mining, commercial and low-density residential to Commercial Outdoor Recreation (COR). Staff and the applicant said the parcels contain existing parking and storage facilities that staff determined are existing nonconforming uses. The applicant's representative, Mike Susi, said the rezoning is a first step to unify split zoning on a property and allow future outdoor-oriented redevelopment, including improved managed parking and trail access for St. Mary's Glacier.

Commissioners discussed safeguards for potential future development. Staff pointed to section 20 of the county's zoning regulations, which triggers a formal development-review public hearing for projects expected to generate a defined threshold of traffic (for example, 200 average daily trips) or other impacts. Commissioners said uses that would raise noise or public-safety concerns (shooting ranges, racetracks, motorized recreation) require special-use review and would return for board-level scrutiny. The board approved the St. Mary's rezoning, noting the COR district is narrower than other commercial zones and that future large projects would face public development review.