Planning commission tables Escalante rezoning after survey not completed

The Garfield County Planning Commission on an unstated May meeting date moved to table a request to rezone a trustee-owned parcel in Escalante from agricultural to residential estates after staff said the required survey had not been completed.

Planner Caden (speaker recorded as S5) told the commission that the applicant’s survey "was not gonna be done," and recommended tabling the zone-change decision until the subdivision survey is finished so that the commission would not need to hold another public hearing. Chair (S1) and commissioners agreed to place the item on the agenda for the next meeting. The commission’s action was procedural: the public hearing remained open for comment but the final decision was postponed until the survey establishes the parcel boundaries.

The item concerns a minor lot split that staff said would likely preserve a larger portion of the parcel in unincorporated agricultural use while creating a roughly one‑acre parcel with road access. Planner Caden also noted the trustee would likely retain any available green belt tax exemption and that the remainder of the land would keep its existing tax treatment.