Dave and Lana Waters, owners of D&L Construction, have submitted an application to the Montezuma County planning commission for a high-impact permit for their 35-acre site on 25716 County Road L. It is already zoned for heavy industrial use, but the permit could allow it to be used for a wide variety of new activities, including hot-mix asphalt production, a machine shop or long-term storage of construction materials. Because the city owns land near the Industrial Park, the Waterses requested they send a letter to the county with their comments about the permit, but after a lengthy discussion, board members could not agree on the letter’s wording and decided in a 3-3 vote not to send one.
The application requests permission to turn the D&L site into a “multipurpose industrial area” that could be used by multiple tenants at the same time. It also lists several kinds of small-scale plants the owners may want to build on the site, although it acknowledges they would need separate permits to build them. City Planner Tracie Hughes said she would have liked to see more detailed plans for such operations.
“The application is somewhat ambiguous regarding the actual activities that would occur,” she said. “There’s also not a site plan that shows where the activities would occur.”
In their meeting the previous week, the Cortez planning and zoning commission had approved a letter to the county asking that they require D&L to meet a few requirements before they grant the permit. They expressed particular concern that D&L clarify where the site’s traffic might increase, and provide screening from the nearby Geer Natural Area. Some members of the city council, including Mayor Karen Sheek, said they would like to approve a similar letter, but others disagreed with their concerns. Board member Tim Miller said it would be impossible for the property owners to provide detailed mitigation procedures for every type of activity the permit would allow on the land.
“I don’t see how they can answer the questions until they know what’s there and how long it’s going to be there,” he said.
He argued that since D&L would have to apply for separate permits for production plants, they could worry about those mitigations when the time comes. But City Manager Shane Hale said D&L would most likely go to the state, not the county, for future permits.
“Right now, there’s no mitigation proposed for noise ... for dust, for visual – there’s no mitigation at all,” he said. “If we think these things could happen here, we should probably take that into account now.”
Representatives from Osprey Packs, which is currently located near D&L in the Industrial Park, have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the permit. On Tuesday, Osprey co-owner Diane Wren spoke up during the council’s discussion to say she believes many of the potential uses of the property, especially the asphalt plant, would create health and safety hazards for her company and other surrounding businesses.
“We feel that a hot-mix asphalt operation has big potential to impact the health of the people that live and work in this neighborhood,” she said. “We are just not in favor at all of this particular aspect, even the possibility that it would be located in this area.”
She noted that even after Osprey moves its headquarters to the new location on Empire Street, they will still have employees stationed in the Industrial Park building.
Nathan Barton, an environmental engineer who is working with D&L on their project, said the permit application did include plans for an additional traffic entrance to the property. He also pointed out that hot-mix asphalt plants are not always permanent.
Council member Bob Archibeque said he was concerned, as a frequent biker, about the impact the new permitted uses would have on Geer Natural Area. Sheek agreed.
“I want to make sure that, whatever we put in there, it’s not going to negatively affect Geer,” she said.
Ultimately the council was unable to agree on whether they should ask for mitigation in the letter. Sheek, Archibeque and Mayor Pro Tem Ty Keel voted for the letter, but Miller and council members Orly Lucero and Shawna McLaughlin voted against it. Council member Jill Carlson was absent, and a tie meant the motion failed.
The Montezuma County planning and zoning commission will consider the permit application at its meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
