El Paso County Planning Commission, June 6 and 20 – Planning commission recommend denial of Monument glamping site expansion

By Helen Walklett

Monument glamping site expansion
Vessey Road rezone

At the El Paso County Planning Commission meeting on June 6, the commissioners heard a request to expand a glamping site near Monument. Also during June, the commissioners heard a final plat application for a Black Forest property.

Monument glamping site expansion

At their June 6 meeting, the commissioners heard a request by owner Chris Jeub for approval of an amendment to an existing special use to allow four extra sites at his glamping business on his 6.44-acre property at Rickenbacker Avenue, west of Interstate 25 and bordering the Town of Monument. The property is zoned RR-5 (rural residential).

Note: Glamping is a term combining “glamor” and “camping,” meaning camping with certain amenities. Jeub is a volunteer for OCN.

The commissioners heard that Jeub successfully applied for a special use permit for the business in 2022 following a 2021 code enforcement complaint that there were multiple structures on the property, besides the primary residence, such as tents and outdoor bathroom facilities. The special use permitted eight tent or yurt sites with four shared bathrooms and was granted administratively (meaning there were no public hearings) after opposition was withdrawn.

The current application follows complaints about a recreational vehicle (RV) and shipping container at the property. Its approval would modify the special use to increase the number of sites to 12 and allow for a variety of hard-sided camping structures to include RVs and shipping containers. Should approval be granted, the next step would see a site development plan submitted for county’s approval.

Ashlyn Mathy, planner II, Planning and Community Development Department, said the modification would permit various structures such as RVs and shipping containers, which are not normally something you would expect to see in a rural residential area. She continued, “The applicant has not identified the number of glamping sites that will utilize specifically shipping containers and RVs. Therefore, it’s going to be a little more difficult to determine the impact to the surrounding neighbors. With the utilization of the shipping containers and recreational vehicles, we do see that it may not be compatible with the surrounding rural residential neighborhood.”

Mathy said 29 neighbors had been notified and opposition received focused on safety and traffic concerns, a lack of compatibility with the surrounding area, and concerns about the applicant continually doing things on the property without approvals from county. Support for the application noted that it would be a boost to tourism and that it would not have a negative effect on the community. Staff had suggested conditions of approval based on the mitigation of negative impacts to neighbors using landscaping, fence buffering, and other measures to reduce visual impacts, noise, and lighting pollution.

Craig Dossey, president, Vertex Consulting Services, representing the applicant, said stays at the site are intended to be temporary, not exceeding 30 days at a time and no more than 90 in total in one year and stated that the Jeubs are very committed to operating a good business. Describing the proposal as a low-impact development, he said, “We think this is a great transition between a pretty urban area in the town, which is frankly a traditional subdivision just to the east, and that more rural area transitioning up to the National Forest.”

Jeub explained, “Container homes do very well as far as the way the market of glamping goes. Glamping changes very quickly as far as structures and how well the structures do in the market of glamping.” He explained that the additional sites would enable him to pay for some of the required improvements and said, “I want to have beautiful structures here. I don’t want to have junky structures and I think the RV is a step up from the tent that we had.” Dossey added, “There needs to be some flexibility because it is such a developing market right now.”

Commissioner Becky Fuller commented that it was not just four more tent sites that were being requested. She said, “I believe when this [the original application] was approved, the neighbors kind of let it go because it was tents.” She said she thought it was very intentional to approve tents and that this application was a different use variance than that which was already approved. She said she could not see the compatibility of short-term, summer camping versus the longer-term nature of hard-sided structures which could be lived in year-round. She also commented on the code violations which resulted in the special use applications, asking, “Why are we doing something and asking for forgiveness?”

Dossey said he felt the tent-only definition was county staff’s “interpretation” of the wording in the original special use. Mathy said, “it is clearly depicted that it’s all tents” and Meggan Herington, executive director, Planning and Community Development, concurred.

Chris Maciejewski, attorney with Robinson and Henry, P.C. and representing several of the neighbors, said, “It’s clear they’re asking for open-ended approval as to what they can do under that special use permit.” The three sites beside Monument Creek must be tents as no permanent development is permitted on the floodplain. Maciejewski said he thought the expectation is that the other nine would be hard-sided structures and commented, “The expansion to hard-sided structures is going to be a significant change from eight approved tent sites.”

Commissioner Eric Moraes said, “This was approved based on tents. Both the executive director and county attorney confirm that and now we are coming to what’s in my mind a drastically different business to be in the neighborhood with hard-sided, large structures.” Commissioner Christopher Whitney said, “I’m going to be opposed because I think it’s completely incompatible. It’s not really a modification of the earlier special usage but a brand-new application in my mind.”

Commissioner Thomas Bailey took a different view, stating, “Portions of the master plan encourage economic development, encourage this kind of thing, and I see it very much as an entrepreneurial use.” Commissioner Sarah Brittain Jack concurred.

The vote was 7-2 to recommend denial of the application. The nay votes were Bailey and Brittain Jack. The application was then heard at the El Paso Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) land use meeting on June 27. See BOCC article on page < 1 >.

Vessey Road rezone

At the June 20 meeting, the commissioners heard a final plat application by Pawel Posorski to create two single-family lots of just over 2.5 acres each on a 6.02-acre Vessey Road property, about one-third of a mile east of the intersection of Vessey Road and Holmes Road. The land was rezoned from RR-5 (rural residential) to RR-2.5 (rural residential) in April. See www.ocn.me/v24n5.htm?zoom_highlight=posorski.

The commissioners voted unanimously to recommend the application for approval. It was heard as a consent item, meaning there was no discussion, and is now due to be heard at the BOCC land use meeting on July 25.

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The El Paso County Planning Commission normally meets the first and (as required) the third Thursday of each month at the Regional Development Center, 2880 International Circle, Colo. Springs. Meetings are live-streamed on the El Paso County News and Information Channel at www.elpasoco.com/news-information-channel. Information is available at 719-520-6300 and planningdevelopment.elpasoco.com/planning-community-development/2024-hearings-schedule/.

Helen Walklett can be reached at helenwalklett@ocn.me.

Monument glamping site expansion

Vessey Road rezone

Other El Paso County Planning Commission articles