1. Jefferson County Planning Commission Hearing February 2, 2011
Case No RZ
Shaffer’s Crossing West Official Development Plan
Case Manager: Jeanne Shaffer

2. Jefferson County
The subject property is located in the northwest corner of US Hwy 285 and South Elk Creek Road.

3. Proposed Uses Use Area C (Camping): 3 Acres 40 RV Camping Sites
20 Tent Camping Sites
Raising and Sale of Fish
Recreational Activities
Accessory Campground Facilities
Use Area S (Storage): 2 Acres
RV/Boat/Camper Storage Indoor or Outdoor
Office as Accessory to Storage Use
Use Area R (Residential): 40 Acres
23 Single Family Residential (with minimum lot size of 1 acre on centralized water system and individual septic)
Open Area – 15 acres
Use Area B (Business): 3 Acres
Fishing Activities
Convenience Store (no gas station) – limited to 3,000 square feet
Bait shop and fishing/camping supply store – limited to 3,000 square feet
Restaurant (no drive through) – limited to 4,000 square feet
Ice Skating
One Single Family Dwelling
Use Area OP (Open Area): 8 Acres
Hiking Trails
Fishing (raising and sale)
Passive Recreation

4. Jefferson County Water
Court decree allows the withdrawal of 60 acre feet of water per year and up to 70 wells.
Proposed development requires a maximum of acre feet of water per year.
Centralized water system will serve the proposed development.
Well Water Supply Report
Submitted in compliance with Mountain Groundwater Overlay District.
Existing groundwater supply will not be depleted beyond the ability of the local basin to recharge itself.
Based on hydrogeologic information, no anticipated adverse impacts on surrounding well users in the basin.
Adequate water is available for all users within the basin.
Water requirements will be reviewed again with the required platting and site development plan processes.
The applicant has a court decreed water augmentation plan that allows the withdrawal of 60 acre feet of water per year and the drilling of up to 70 wells. The proposed development will require a maximum of acre feet of water per year. The actual water usage may range from 9.89 acre feet to acre feet per year depending on the uses that are in operation.
The applicant is proposing to provide water to the development through a centralized water system to be served by onsite wells. The centralized water system is required to be established at the time of platting.
A well water supply report was submitted in compliance with the Mountain Groundwater Overlay District. The report found that there is adequate water available in basin serving the area to support the proposed development without depleting the existing groundwater supply beyond the ability of the local basin to recharge itself. The hydrogeologic information in the report indicates that there should be no adverse impacts to other well users in the basin.
The Jefferson County Geologist, Jefferson County Public Health, and the State Water Resources all reviewed the water information submitted by the applicant.
Water requirements are reviewed again at the time of the platting and site development plan processes.

5. Jefferson County Traffic
Direct access onto South Elk Creek Road and US Hwy 285
Grade separated interchange under construction.
Traffic Study
Level of Service is not expected to decrease.
Traffic generated can be accommodated by existing road network.
Potential Roadway Improvements
Left hand turn land from South Elk Creek Road into the property.
Paving of a portion of Elk Creek Road.
The subject property accesses South Elk Creek Road from the private road Fish Pond Way. South Elk Creek Road intersects with US Hwy 285 where the new grade separated interchange is being constructed.
A traffic study was submitted that indicated the proposed development and additional traffic can be accommodated by the existing road networks and current intersection improvements without degrading the Level of Service.
Jefferson County Planning Engineering, Transportation and Engineering, Road and Bridge, and the Colorado Department of Transportation all received a referral for this case. Each agency had no concerns with the rezoning and proposed uses. Additional roadway improvements may be required, such as paving a portion of Elk Creek Road or installing a left turn lane into the subject property. The need for these improvements would be identified at the time of platting or site development plan process.

6. Jefferson County Fire/Emergency Response Citizen Concerns
Dangers associated with unregulated campfires.
Ability of residents along South Elk Creek Road to exit the area in an emergency.
Referral Agencies
Colorado State Forest Service
Elk Creek Fire Department
Emergency Management
Future Process Requirements
Forest Management Plan
Fire Cistern/Hydrant System
Building Fire Suppression Systems
Defensible Space
At the community meeting many citizens expressed concerns with emergency response times. increased fire danger with the allowance of campfires, and the ability of residents along South Elk Creek Road to exit the are in the event of a forest fire or other disaster
The Colorado State Forest Service, Elk Creek Fire Department, Emergency Management, and the Sheriff’s Department all received a referral for this case. None of these agencies expressed concerns with the proposed uses as long as certain requirements could be met with the future platting and site development plan processes. Some of those requirements included the creation of a forest management plan, installing fire suppression systems in buildings, and providing a water cistern or fire hydrants for fire protection.
None of the agencies indicated there would be an issue with emergency response times to the area or the ability of residents in the area to evacuate in the event of a forest fire or other disaster.

7. Jefferson County Community Plan Analysis Use Area R (Residential)
Centralized water system will serve development
Water source is renewable and established at rezoning
Slope of building sites are less than 30%
Located outside of Visual Corridor Foreground
Located within 2-3 miles of US Hwy 285
Access onto a feeder road that has an existing full turning movement intersection at US 285
Transportation Level of Service can be met
Existing and planned services will be adequate and available (school, fire, etc.)
High degree of compliance with design guidelines
Development constraints and other recommendations in the plan can be met (i.e. fire hazards, floodplains, visual corridors, slope, wildlife, water).
The community plan recommends that residential density can be greater than 1 dwelling unit per 5 acres with a minimum lot size of 1 acre when the criteria listed here can be met.
The proposed rezoning substantially complies with these policies.
The development will be served by a centralized water system with a renewable water source as indicated in the well water supply report.
Residential building sites are not located on slopes greater than 30% as shown on the ODP graphic.
Use Area R is located outside of the visual corridor foreground due to existing topography of the site.
South Elk Creek Road is a feeder road that connects to the new grade separated interchange at Hwy 285.
The proposal is in compliance with the design guidelines and other recommendations in the plan based on clustering, architectural, and landscaping requirements in the written restrictions.

8. Jefferson County Community Plan Analysis Use Area S (Storage)
Traffic will use collector roads with US 285 access that will not go through residential neighborhoods
Minimum 80% of site is open area with 100 foot buffers
Heights don’t exceed 35 feet
Visual corridor foreground is protected
Complies with other sections of the plan
Complies with design guidelines
The community plan recommends storage uses when these criteria can be met.
As addressed previously, the transportation network is adequate for the proposed development and will not access through a residential neighborhood.
The applicant has preserved 8 acres of open area with 100 foot buffers to offset the 2 acres of RV storage area.
No building heights within the ODP will exceed 35 feet
To protect the visual corridor foreground and comply with the design guidelines, the RV storage area is required to be screened with new landscaping, storage of vehicles is to be clustered in small groups, and existing mature vegetation is to be preserved.

9. Jefferson County Community Plan Analysis
Use Area B (Business) and Use Area C (Camping)
Additional traffic will not lower LOS.
Quality of existing services will not be affected.
Disturbance to existing surrounding uses can be mitigated.
Requirements for water and sewage disposal can be met.
Policies for Camping only
Development is buffered from access road.
Traffic generated can be accommodated by the road system with an acceptable level of service.
Recommendations in other portions of the plan can be met including design guidelines.
Expansion will not result in strip development.
Proposed project will meet an unmet community need.
Proposed project cannot be accommodated in a village center.
Excellent site design can be achieved with a high degree of conformance with Design Guidelines.
Impacts on surrounding area can be mitigated.
Expansion should be contiguous or in immediate proximity to village center.
Traffic access points are safe.
Immediate access to collector or arterial roads.
The mixture of camping and business uses is not specifically addressed in the community plan policies or recommendations in the Commercial, Destination Resort, and the Open Space & Recreation Sections of the Plan were applied in staff’s analysis of these Use Areas.
The Uses in Use Area B allow for a maximum of 10,000 square feet of commercial space. This space is divided into 4,000 square feet of restaurant, 3,000 square feet of a bait/camping supply retail store, and 3,000 square feet of a convenience store, with no gas station allowed. These commercial uses are intended to serve the users of the campground and provide very limited small scale convenience services to the campers onsite as well as other citizens and visitors in the surrounding area. The proposed business uses are in general conformance with the criteria on the screen as discussed in detail in the staff report.
The proposed camping uses also generally comply with the criteria on the screen.
I will not go into great detail regarding staff analysis on each of these policies as Staff’s detailed analysis is in the staff report. If you have questions regarding staff’s analysis of any of these policies I am happy to elaborate.

10. Jefferson County Compatibility with Surrounding Uses
Residential 10 acre parcels
1du/2ac
100 foot buffer area
Staff also analyzes the compatibility of the proposed use with the surrounding uses in the area.
The residential subdivision to the west has an existing density of 1 dwelling unit per 2 acres. Based on the existing zoning designation the density could be 1 dwelling unit per 1 acre. The applicant is proposing a residential density of 1 dwelling unit per 1.7 acres.
The southeast corner of the US Hwy 285 and South Elk Creek Road intersection is currently zoned and used for mining and a batch plant. The zoning also allows office and other industrial uses.
The property to the south of the proposed development is owned by Jefferson County for the County Road and Bridge shops. Another parcel of land is zoned restricted commercial and a 4 acre parcel of land has a single residence.
There is a safe, full movement access point at US 285.
Natural buffers and compatible residential and open space land uses proposed are compatible with and will protect existing residential uses to north.
Improved intersection
Residential 4 acres
Mining/Batch Plant & Industrial/Office
County Road & Bridge Shop
RC-1

11. Jefferson County Planning Commission Action:
Staff Recommends that the Planning Commission find that based on the information provided in this presentation and the staff report:
The proposal is in general conformance with the Comprehensive Master Plan and the Conifer/285 Corridor Area Community Plan.
The proposed land use is compatible with the existing and allowable uses in the surrounding area because all potential impacts have been mitigated.
Staff recommends the Planning Commission recommend APPOVAL to the Board of County Commissioners for case # RZ with the following conditions:
Revisions to the Official Development Plan in accordance with the red-marked print dated February 2, 2011.