Board of County Commissioners Business Meeting - public_hearing

Commissioner Van Winkle, you good to go? All right. Let us all please come to order. Welcome to the land use meeting and public hearing of the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners. It is Tuesday, August 11th, 2026. We are off to quite a late start. We did have an agenda change that added some time to our business meeting. So time now is approximately 3.30. If everyone will please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, turning to the county attorney for certification of the agenda.

Yes, sir. The County Attorney's Office has reviewed all items on the agenda. You have appropriate jurisdiction over these matters, and where necessary and appropriate, posting has been made.

Very good. Thank you, Councillor. Commissioner, is there any disclosures for items on this agenda?

No. None for me, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

All right, thank you, gentlemen. I have no disclosures either. Getting into our land use meeting agenda item for today is a resolution for codifying the zoning resolution. Michael Carey, Zoning Compliance Manager for staff.

Michael Carey representing Community Development. The project before you is for consideration of a resolution codifying the existing land use regulations of Douglas County. The request is for adoption of a resolution codifying existing land use regulations, including the zoning resolution, subdivision resolution, addressing and street naming manual, matters of state interest regulations, and licensure requirements and regulations for massage facilities. The codification allows for existing land use regulations to be published on an online code platform, ECO 360. Currently, these five sets of regulations are only available as a collection of approximately 90 individual files that must each be downloaded before they can be used. This platform will provide easy online access to those regulations for county residents, business owners, landowners, and staff, giving them the ability to easily find, research, and share the county's regulations. Staff recommends that the resolution codifying the existing land use regulations of Douglas County be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. This concludes staff presentation and I'm available to answer any questions regarding the staff report or the resolution.

Thank you, Michael. Board, any questions for Michael on this matter?

None for me, Mr. Chair, thank you. Nor I, thank you.

I've got no questions, Michael. I think it's great, great work. Great, great work by the team. I got briefed on it. I think I realized it was thought of years ago, but and we're finally getting to it. I think I understand those reasons. This is a great day to move forward with it. Great work. No questions. At this time, let's go ahead and open it up for any public comment. I do not have anyone signed up to speak on this matter. If there's anyone who'd like to come forward for public comment, please come forward at this time. Seeing none, bring it back to the board for action on this resolution codifying the zoning resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move to approve a resolution codifying the zoning resolution. And I will second that motion.

Very good. There is a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. And the resolution passes. Thank you all for that great work. Moving to our public hearing agenda items. Our first item is Douglas County Zoning Resolution Amendment to Section 27, Site Improvement Plan. Project file is DR2026-002. Eric Pavlenik presenting for staff.

Good afternoon, commissioners. Eric Pavlenek representing community development. Before you use the proposed zoning amendments to section 27, site improvement plan, product number is DR2026-002. The proposed amendments will remove the requirement for the submittal of an SIP application for single-family attached developments when sufficient engineering, building and fire related details are provided at the time of plan approval. Zoning resolution amendments are processed pursuant to section 109 which is noted on the slide. The review process is outlined on the slide as well. The proposed amendment would simplify the development process as stated earlier. This provides an option to eliminate the need for an SIP when all engineering building and fire code and other life safety issues are addressed during the subdivision process. Most referral agencies responding to the request provide either no comment or no objection to the response. Two referral agencies expressed concern with removal of the ability to provide referral comments on an SIP. and other agencies commented on how they would adjust to the change in process. Under the proposed amendments, detailed information on the residential project will be available at the subdivision stage for review. The Planning Commission heard the proposal on August 3rd, 2026 and unanimously recommend approval six to zero. The Planning Commission asked questions related to the development review process and why the amendments were being considered. The board may approve approval of the modifications, table for further study, remand to the Planning Commission or deny the amendment proposal. This concludes my presentation. I'm available for any questions at this time.

All right. Thanks, Eric. Any questions from the board?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. None for me. Thank you, Eric. I appreciate the presentation. I do have a question for you, which is, there are several people, including your department, that's been working very diligently on the Red Tape Reduction Act, so to speak, or the Red Tape Reduction Task Force, and the idea is to make just life a little bit easier for those who interact with Douglas County. Would you say that, while maybe not directly part of that task force, is this in the same spirit as the task force?

Eric Cavanaugh for staff. Yes, this would be in the same spirit as the Red Reduction Task Force. This provides an option for developers to forego an SIP process when they could prove that all engineering, building, and fire-related issues are resolved at the time of platting.

Okay, so we're not getting rid of, it's not just wild, wild west, build whatever the heck you want. There's still gonna be very strong, thorough assessments being done. Correct, yes. But it's a little bit less red tape, a little bit. fewer pieces of paperwork going back and forth.

Correct, yes. It just provides an option if applicant wants to go this route. The SIP process is still available if they choose to go through that process.

All right, well thank you. I think there'll be lots of happy citizens in Douglas County that will have to just fill out a lot less paperwork.

All right, thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Layton, any questions for Eric on the zoning resolution amendment?

No, I don't have any questions. And, you know, just would remind the listening public, we've had an opportunity to have this conversation and discuss the changes at length for several months now. And I would commend my colleague, Commissioner Van Winkle, for his leadership on the Red Tape Reduction Committee. It's a big deal. I'm a huge fan of eliminating duplicity. And when there's redundancy in our process that is unnecessary to just get rid of it. But again, to commissioner, Ben Winkle's point, there is still a very strong and powerful opportunity to render the same sort of conversations discussion and engagement that we've always had. It just occurs at subdivision. Which makes a lot more sense in my mind. I started out on the planning commission many years ago before I was a county commissioner. And, you know, the duplicity that when we duplicate processes and replicate them, it is costly, it's unnecessary, and it just slows the entire process down. So I like being known as a county that cuts red tape, makes it easier to do business here, but maintains the same level of stringent oversight that we always have. So really like the presentation and appreciate the leadership.

All right, thank you, Commissioner. Eric, we've gone through this a couple times. I have no questions. Very much appreciate it. I'm gonna open it up for public comment. I have no one signed up for public comment at this time. Is there anyone who would like to give public comment on this amendment to the zoning resolution? Seeing none, let's bring it back to the board for action. Board, how would we like to proceed with this amendment to our zoning resolution?

I know our normal protocol would be for me to make that motion, but I'll defer to my colleagues since this is part of his leadership initiative.

Well, thank you, Commissioner. I move to approve Douglas County Zone Resolution Amendment to Section 27, Site Improvement Plan, Project File DR-2026-002. And I'll second that motion.

There is a motion and a second. Discussion?

I'm shocked there's not thousands of people storming the doors with their scissors to cut red tape and see us remove piles of paperwork that are unnecessary, but maybe they're here in spirit.

Indeed, Commissioner. Indeed. Commissioner Layton, discussion?

Nothing further from me.

All right, gentlemen. Well, Kevin, I think you really touched on it in terms of cutting red tape. I think what is probably not appreciated is the scope of this amendment eliminating what has existed as a stop that is very important when we talk about building single-family homes and the neighborhoods for single-family homes. Very important when building larger multifamily homes. and the neighborhoods around it. This is hitting those single family attached. That's technical jargon for townhomes. namely a lot of the housing that is actually affordable for a lot of young people, but also for even some people in our society who are more experienced in their work life. This is affordable housing, if you will. And as a businessman, one of the first things I ever learned from one of my first managers was time is money. And so in trying to have uniformity across all of our planning elements, we were adding a step to the process of building affordable homes for people that I think we've proven to ourselves with this amendment just didn't have to be there. So what does this really do? What's the real impact? And Commissioner, you talked about cutting red tape. It's not just cutting red tape. It's cutting tens of thousands of dollars out of the cost of a townhome. Now, whether that is a townhome that could be rented, whether it's a townhome that perhaps even sold as a condominium and be owned property by the occupant. if you wanna do something to address the cost of living, the cost of housing, and I keep hearing people saying they want us to do something to address the cost of housing. Personally, I think this is one of the most important steps that we could take. So I very much speak in favor of the motion. Any further discussion? There is a motion and a second.

Well, I wasn't going to add anything, but I just would mention for any member of the development community, the home building community that's maybe listening or paying attention to this call, the gauntlet's been thrown. And I think you all are friends and colleagues and so significant to our community. I think the cut in red tape is really a call to action that you build condos, build the workforce housing in the county that we so desperately need.

Excellent, excellent point, Commissioner. Further discussion? There is a motion and a second. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. And the vote is unanimous and the amendment to the Douglas County zoning resolution is approved. Our next item is a request to continue a bond authorizing resolution for $50 million in private activity bonds for Ponderosa Pines. Again, Board, this is a motion to continue. Do we have a motion to continue?

Mr. Chair, I'm pleased to make a motion to continue a bond authorizing a resolution for $50 million in private activity bonds for Ponderosa Pines to the business meeting on August 25th, 2026 at 1.30 p.m. Second.

There is a motion and a second on a motion to continue this bond authorizing resolution. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. And the resolution is continued. Our final matter is a resolution supplementing the 2026 adopted budget for the County of Douglas, Colorado to recognize new revenues received since annual budget adoption, appropriate restricted, committed, assigned and unassigned fund balances in the amount of $11,756,809. Brandi Ridgeway, budget analyst presenting for staff.

Yes, thank you. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Brandi Ridgway from the budget department. I'm here to formally present the fourth supplemental for fiscal year 2026. Total amount of the request for your consideration is $11,756,809. This supplemental request will increase appropriations for new revenues that have been received since the formal budget adoption, allow for unspent grant dollars to be carried forward into the current year, and appropriate spending authority for 2026 initiatives. There are seven funds that are affected by this supplemental, totaling $11,756,809. We've provided details of all the requests today in the board's packet. In addition, the fund summaries for each impacted fund have been included in the agenda item. This supplemental request is governed by statute 29-1-109, which permits the board to make revised appropriation resolutions to account for the increase in expenditures currently under consideration. With today's supplemental approval, the new amended budget for Douglas County will be $768,732,172. All right, thank you very much, Brandi. Board, any questions for Brandi on this supplement to the budget? None for me, Mr.

Chair, thank you.

Nor I, we do this budget trip multiple times throughout the year.

It is sort of something we got to see every quarter practically. So I have no questions either. Brandi, thank you very much for the presentation. That was great. I'm going to open it up for public comment. I do not have anybody signed up for public comment. Would anybody like to come forward and give public comment at this time? Seeing none, board, turning back to action for the board. We do have a resolution supplementing the 2026 adopted budget. How would we like to proceed?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move to approve a resolution supplementing the 2026 adopted budget for the County of Douglas, Colorado, recognizing new revenues received since the annual budget adoption, appropriate, restricted, committed, assigned, and unassigned fund balances in the amount of $11,756,809 even. And I'll second that motion.

Very good. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. And that resolution passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, well, that concludes our work for today in our land use meeting and public hearing. Our next land use meeting and public hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 at 2.30 p.m. We are adjourned.