Palmer Lake Board of Trustees, Sept.14 and 28. Elephant Rock property lease with option to purchase approved

Elephant Rock property lease.
RV use and storage on private property.
Sign code ordinance discussed, tabled.
Officer Ramirez honored.
Special event permits granted.
Appointments.
Land use issues.
New accounting service.
Executive sessions.

By James Howald and Jackie Burhans

In September, the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees voted on a resolution authorizing a lease for a portion of the Eagle Rock property and on a resolution regulating recreational vehicle (RV) use and storage on private property. An ordinance governing signs was discussed and tabled. Palmer Lake Police Officer Eugene Ramirez was awarded Palmer Lake’s Life Saving Medal. The board granted five special event permits and appointed members to the Parks Commission and to the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB). The board addressed several land use issues and hired a new accounting service.

The board held two executive sessions: one following the regular meeting on Sept. 14 and one preceding the regular meeting on Sept. 28.

Elephant Rock property lease.

At its Sept. 28 meeting, the board considered Resolution 55-2023, which authorizes Mayor Glant Havenar to sign a lease agreement with EcoSpa LLC, owned by Richard and Lindsay Willan, for 2.8 acres of the town’s Elephant Rock property. The lease includes an option for the Willans to purchase the land and an acknowledgement that the Planned Unit Development for the property will need to be amended, with any amendments to be reviewed and approved by the board at a future meeting.

Attorney Matt Krob pointed out that if the town terminated the lease, the option to purchase the land would also be terminated. He explained that any request by the Willans or by future owners to change the use of the land would need to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and voted on by the board following public hearings, so the town would retain some control over the future of the property even after it was sold. The town could also use a deed restriction to prevent certain future uses, he said.

The board voted unanimously in favor of the resolution leasing the property to the Willans with an option to purchase.

RV use and storage on private property.

At a workshop on Sep. 14, the board returned to its discussion of how RV use and storage should be regulated, focusing on RV use and storage on private property. At a previous meeting in August, the board passed an ordinance prohibiting RV use and storage on public property.

Havenar opened the discussion by explaining that RV use and storage had been mistakenly omitted from an update of the town’s municipal code. She said she had concerns about regulating residents’ use of their property.

Trustee Kevin Dreher said he had no issues with storing RVs on private property, but he favored limits and didn’t want people living in them on a permanent basis. He suggested using building permits to authorize residency in an RV only on empty lots when a house was being built on the property.

Trustee Jessica Farr said she did not want RVs connected to water and sewer systems. She suggested a one-year limit on RV occupancy.

Krob raised the issue of unimproved rights of way to the lot where any RV would be located and pointed out that if the town allowed use of an unimproved right of way by an RV, there would be a risk of liability for the town. Krob also said any ordinance regulating RV use and storage should include language prohibiting RVs to be used as accessory dwelling units.

Fire Chief John Vincent pointed out that there would need to be adequate access for emergency vehicles to any private property on which an occupied RV was present.

Resident Matt Stephen argued that, if no time limit on residency in an RV was set, it would be impossible to eliminate their use as a long-term residence.

Krob said he had enough direction from the board to draft an ordinance for consideration at the next board meeting.

At the Sept. 28 meeting, the board reviewed the ordinance Krob drafted using the input from the work session. The issue of RV owners using unimproved rights of way to reach the property where they would store their RV proved to be a sticking point. Dreher asked if waivers could be used to resolve the issue of liability. Krob said waivers might reduce but would not eliminate liability for the town and suggested that the town ask the question of Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency, the town’s insurer.

Trustees Shana Ball, Dreher, Nick Ehrhardt, Samantha Padgett and Dennis Stern, along with Havenar, voted to table the ordinance, with Trustee Jessica Farr voting not to table.

Sign code ordinance discussed, tabled.

At its Sept. 14 meeting, the board made another attempt to craft an ordinance regulating signs. Havenar said she had heard from businesses who felt that the ordinance in its current form was not business friendly. The draft under discussion, for example, specifies that neon can be used only for signs indicating the business is open, but O’Malley’s Steak Pub has had neon signs advertising brands of beer for several years. Krob said some signs could be considered historic signs and grandfathered in, but if they were ever changed or destroyed the new sign would need to be reviewed. He stressed that historic signs had to have been legally compliant at some point. Krob recommended a workshop on the sign ordinance.

The board voted to table further discussion of the ordinance until October.

Officer Ramirez honored.

Chief of Police Jason Vanderpool presented officer Eugene Ramirez with the Palmer Lake Life Saving Medal for his response to an attempted suicide earlier in the year. Ramirez and Monument Police Department Officer Dakota Degenhart responded to a report that an autistic individual was preparing to hang himself on Mount Herman. Ramirez and Degenhart located the individual and Ramirez supported him while Degenhart cut the rope from which he was already hanging. Together they administered first aid and got the victim down the trail to help. Without their actions, Vanderpool said, the attempt would have succeeded.

Special event permits granted.

The board approved special event permits for five events:

The Monument Academy Cross Country race to be held on Sept. 28.
The Funky Little Theater production of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, scheduled for a 7 p.m. show on Friday, Oct. 13 and a 1 p.m. show on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Palmer Lake Town Hall.
The YMCA Creepy Crawl 5K Fun Run, to start at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 at the Palmer Lake Regional Recreation Area. A separate run for kids will start at 10:30 a.m. The course will circle the lake and continue on the Santa Fe Trail. Race ceremonies will start at 8:45 a.m.
The Rat Rods and Rust Car and Bike Show, to be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Palmer Lake Regional Recreation Area. Jeremiah King, the event’s organizer, described rat rods as gigantic rolling pieces of art. The event will include a costume contest for kids and trunk treats.
Palmer Lake Outdoor Classic hockey tournament, to be held Jan. 5, 6 and 7 at the Palmer Lake Regional Recreation Area. Four high school teams will play on Saturday, Jan. 6 from 6-9 p.m. Adult hockey games will be held on Sunday, Jan. 7 from 9 a.m. until noon with a playoff game from 6-7:30 p.m. Fireworks are being considered for Saturday evening. The event is a fundraiser for Lewis-Palmer School District hockey and the nonprofit that organizes the event.

Appointments.

At the Sept. 14 meeting, the board voted unanimously to appoint Garcia Wood to an alternate seat on the Parks Commission.

At the Sept. 28 meeting, the board voted unanimously to appoint Padgett to represent the town on the Community Development Advisory Board, which advises the El Paso Board of County Commissioners concerning community development and use of Community Development Block Grant funds. The board also voted to support the applications of Ball and Farr to serve on the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board.

Land use issues.

At the Sept. 14 meeting, the board voted unanimously in favor of Ordinance 20-2023, which disconnects a parcel of land belonging to Jim and Laura Fitzgerald from the town of Palmer Lake. The disconnection was the final step in a process begun in August to resolve tax issues created when the Fitzgeralds and Jim and Pam Parco exchanged land in 2014, intending to improve access to their respective properties. The land swap resulted in the Fitzgeralds and the Parcos receiving tax bills from both the town of Palmer Lake and from El Paso County. The annexation and rezoning voted on in August along with the disconnection will result in the Fitzgeralds and Parcos each receiving just one tax bill.

At the Sept. 28 meeting, the board held a public hearing on an application by Annette Ruiz for a conditional use permit allowing the Ruiz family to build a home on a lot on Vale Street that is currently zoned C1, for commercial use. There were no comments from the public and the hearing was closed. The board voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 68-2023, which gives the Ruiz family permission to build their home.

A second public hearing was held on Sept. 28 to consider a revised application to vacate the town’s right of way on El Moro Avenue by Cindy Powell and Marilyn Redwine. Collins explained that the board had heard this request before, but some of the details of the previous request were not in order and the new owner of an adjacent property wanted to be involved in the process. There were no comments from the public, and the board voted unanimously in favor of Ordinance 21-2023, vacating the right of way.

The board also voted to approve Resolution 67-2023, which authorizes Havenar to sign a professional service agreement with the Community Matters Institute to rewrite the town’s land use code. Collins explained that the state Department of Local Affairs has provided $25,000 to help pay for the rewrite, with the town also contributing $25,000. Only Farr voted against the resolution.

New accounting service.

The board voted in favor of Resolution 66-2023, which authorizes Havenar to sign a professional services agreement with Kelly Books LLC to provide accounting services to the town. Collins explained the agreement is a monthly contract and the role of Kelly Books will change once the town hires an accounting clerk.

Executive sessions.

The executive session following the Sept. 14 meeting was convened to discuss the lease for the Elephant Rock property, the release of confidential discussion in executive sessions and the town administrator’s evaluation and contract review. No action was taken following the executive session.

On Sept. 28, the executive session preceded the regular meeting, also to address the Elephant Rock property lease and the town administrator’s evaluation. The same executive session was reconvened following the regular meeting. When the second part of the executive session adjourned, the board tabled consideration of the town administrator’s contract.

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The next board meetings are scheduled for Oct. 12 and 26. See the town’s website at www.townofpalmerlake.com to confirm times and dates of board meetings and workshops. Meetings are typically held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at the Town Hall. Information: 719-481-2953.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me. Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me.