County to consider new events center proposal

By Ani S. Delmont
North Forty News

Randy Pope will present a scaled-down proposal to turn his property at 3924 Bingham Hill Road into a basketball camp and events center to the Larimer County Planning Commission on April 21.

The revised plan got the green light from the county commissioners who denied neighbors Joan Welch and John Schmid's appeal of the planning department's decision to allow Pope another shot. They argued that the revised plan wasn't different enough from the proposal voted down in February to warrant a new hearing.

"As far as compatibility, the revised proposal introduces, as the previous one did, a major commercial operation in an otherwise rural and residential landscape," Schmid said.

He reiterated neighbors' previous concerns that an events center would destroy the historic road's peace and safety, as well as its property values. Pope's proposal anticipates the center would be a major outdoor venue, he said. "If a lot of the events are outdoors, a lot of the noise will be outdoors," Schmid said.

The revised project extends the camp's season to seven months – March through September – and reduces the number of weddings to 12 per year, with an exceptional 25 weddings in 2010 "to jump start cash flow," Pope stated in his special review request, filed three weeks after the county commission stymied his last attempt.

He said the revisions lower the number of event days by 84 percent and the number of guests by 89 percent from the original plan of 365 days and almost 50,000 guests per year.

His expanded 50-by-40-foot gymnasium would serve as the community hall, so only a second septic system would need to be built. The parking area would now accommodate 50 vehicles instead of 81. Neighbors, however, said it would still present a potential eyesore.

"This parking lot would be visible from my property," Schmid said.

Pope contended that by lengthening the camp season, intensity of use would decrease. Catering to Bible study groups, church retreats and corporate meetings, the "camp" would host 20 people at a time, leaving fewer days for larger events, he said.

Neighbor Shelby Majors described the revised plan as "even more intense." By her calculations, the events center and camp would operate 244 days a year, a 22 percent increase.

"I was told early on in this process that a change in the numbers would not be enough to allow a re-submittal of a special review, and yet this is what we have here," Majors said.

Making sure Pope sticks to the numbers he pledged to "would be an enforcement nightmare with only the neighbors available to try and monitor it," she said. "It's not fair for the county to put us in that position."

The commissioners acknowledged compatibility and impact issues, but said they believed the revised proposal was different enough from its predecessor to warrant a public hearing.

"I think it's significantly different with less than half the number of events and visitors," Chairman Steve Johnson said. "That doesn't mean that it's sufficient. That doesn't mean that the comments you made aren't pertinent and won't be considered." And if the commission can't reconcile compatibility issues in another review, the bid "will probably meet with the same fate it met with on the first hearing."

Commissioners upheld Pope's right to a public hearing and criticized the appeal as an attempt to deprive him of that right.

Commissioner Lew Gaiter III rebuked neighbors who said they would oppose Pope's business venture on any scale.

"There are times we need to recognize and respect the impact on the area, but that does not mean we can tell an applicant they can do nothing," Gaiter said.

The new hearing will be held at the County Courthouse Offices Building at 200 W. Oak St. starting at 6:30 p.m.