Planning commission says commercial use at wrong site

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Planning commissioners for Larimer County don't like the idea of allowing a commercial development in a rural subdivision, so they voted 7-1 to recommend denial of a recent request.

The issue is whether Mike and Barbara Selby, who own a 40-acre parcel on Rodeos Hill Lane north of County Road 82, should be able to use it for the local office of Graycor Blasting Co. Inc., which is based in Homewood, Ill. A licensed dynamite storage facility is already located on the property with the approval of federal and state agencies.

The Selbys, however, need the county's approval of a special exception to operate the business, including truck storage, in the rural subdivision. The Selbys earlier obtained a permit for a personal shop building, but they want to use the 5,000-square-foot building to store Graycor trucks. Because they failed to get permission when it was built, the trucks are parked outside.

No hearing date has been set for the county commissioners' hearing on the application.

The county began looking at the overall commercial use of the Selby property after receiving a complaint from a neighbor, according to Rob Helmick, county planner. He noted that that the county commissioners' hearing will need to be scheduled sometime in January because the use violates the land use code. The applicants have requested more time to review their options.

"We have to have some resolution of it," Helmick said.

Opinions of other residents in the subdivision are split. Several of the neighbors work for Graycor, and others said they have no problem with the amount of truck traffic coming and going from the business.

"Putting vehicles out of sight is beneficial to the neighborhood," said Al Scott, a resident of North County Road 15 (now called Rawhide Flats Road). "...Mike and Barb keep a very clean property."

Represented by spokesperson Catherine Critz, opponents said the Graycor operation is out of character with the neighborhood. "The roads are not built to withstand that type of machinery," Critz said. "This is not a mom and pop stand."

In response, the Selbys' attorney Tim Goddard said his clients would not object to conditions of approval that required road maintenance or impact fees.

"We're talking about storing trucks in a 50-by-100-foot building," he said, adding that many rural residents own multiple tractors, trucks and trailers.

The majority of the planning commission concluded, however, that the Selbys had failed to justify why the blasting company had to locate in the rural area rather than being based in a commercial or industrial zone.

"There isn't a reasonable justification," said commissioner Nancy Wallace. "...I just think we need to maintain the integrity of the code."

Commission chairman Roger Morgan agreed, saying the commercial use would amount to spot zoning. "If we're going to allow spot zoning, we may as well get rid of the land use code," he said.

The code does allow for exceptions, but Wallace and Morgan said the Selbys failed to meet the tests.