Garfield County approves rezoning of 423 acres in Battlement Mesa

Change adds 23 potential residential units; some fear consequences

By Phillip Yates
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs CO Colorado
February 12, 2008

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Garfield County commissioners on Monday approved a move to rezone 423 acres of Battlement Mesa, a vote that could pave the way for more residential units in the area.

Battlement Mesa Partners, the company behind the request, asked the commissioners to rezone 13.2 percent of the development from zoning designations that included open space, central business district and public recreation, to medium- and low-density residential zoning designations.

The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission heard the matter in December and approved it on a vote of 4-0.

County planning staff, in a report to commissioners, said the proposed rezoning is consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan.

Although the rezoning increases the potential number of residential units by 23, the impact of those “on traffic, water consumption and wastewater production is expected to be less than the commercial and business oriented zone districts which would be displaced,” staff wrote to commissioners.

Battlement Mesa was initially created as a community that would house oil industry employees, most of them Exxon workers involved in oil shale.

The original zoning for the central area of the development was intended for high-density commercial and residential development, offering retail, service and professional space for a planned community of 23,000 residents, the county report said.

But when the oil shale industry collapsed in the early 1980s and Exxon closed its facility on May 2, 1982, a day locals know as “Black Sunday,” demand for retail and commercial development in that area was reduced, the report said. Since then, portions of the Battlement Mesa planned unit development have been subdivided, but a large area of the property remains unsubdivided, according to the report.

Battlement Mesa Partners requested the zoning change to reflect the area’s current housing situation, said Chris Coyle, an attorney with Balcomb and Green, a Glenwood Springs firm representing the company.

“It is a type of residential (development) that is badly needed in western Garfield County,” Coyle said. “The Battlement Mesa (PUD) is uniquely situated to meet the needs of the people who could move there.”

County Commissioner Trési Houpt, during discussion of the proposed zoning change, asked about the possibility of affordable housing options in the area.

In response, Coyle said the plan for Battlement Mesa doesn’t call for “low-priced housing” because Battlement Mesa already has affordability built into its housing options. Still, Coyle said Battlement Mesa Partners is talking with local entities about them buying up property and providing housing for their employees.

Commissioner Larry McCown, citing his experience since living in the area since the early 1980s, said Battlement Mesa has always been the affordable housing option for Garfield County.

“They have a cross section of housing,” McCown said. “I think you have done a great job of addressing the market needs that have been present in the past.”

Don Chance, a resident in Battlement Mesa, criticized the proposed zoning change and its possible implications for traffic in the area. He cited the backup of vehicles getting off Interstate 70 at the Parachute exit as an example of the traffic congestion the area faces.

Now with the zoning change, Chance said he expects that congestion to get worse.

“Battlement Mesa thinks putting traffic signals in will solve the problem,” Chance said. “It will not solve the problem.”

Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com


Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO