On Dec. 6, 2018, Pete Lien & Sons Inc. sent out notices to adjacent property owners of their intent to build a ready mix concrete batch plant on 25 acres of a 92-acre tract of land at the intersection of Judge Orr Road and Stapleton Drive. Since then, the development application process for the plant has steadily progressed and residents of the neighboring properties are concerned about the plantís proximity to their homes.Rusty Renzelman, who owns one of the neighboring properties, said he started a petition opposing construction of the plant; and, with the help of other adjacent property owners, has circulated the petition, having already obtained about 80 signatures.ìIf the application for the plant goes through, it will directly affect us,î he said. ìIt would be detrimental to the value of our home, which is valued at about $1 million or more now. Our Realtor said that (the plant) would cut our home value not quite in half, but it would definitely affect it.îRenzelman said he and his wife moved to their current location about three years ago and did so under the assumption that nothing like a cement plant would ever be constructed nearby.According to the El Paso County assessorís website, the property for the proposed plant is currently zoned agricultural-35 and the surrounding properties are also A-35, along with residential rural-2.5 or residential rural-5.Craig Dossey, executive director of the EPC planning and development department, said the batch plant would require either rezoning the property to a heavy industrial zone or obtaining a variance of use.ìThe burden is really high to rezone to heavy industrial, but that is not what they (Pete Lien & Sons) are doing,î Dossey said. ìThey are asking for a variance, which is only for one use. Whether or not this is the right location remains to be seen.îWhile the effects to their property value remain a major problem, Renzelman said he is also apprehensive about the impact on the environment in the area. He said the winds in the area consistently reach speeds of about 30 to 40 mph, and there is no way the surrounding properties will not end up with particulates from the batch plant in the air and on the properties.ìThere is lime in concrete, which is really corrosive and bad for your lungs,î he said. ìThere is fly ash and that is also toxic. The groundwater will be affected. Real estate will be affected. Our neighbors with organic cattle will never be able to get their cattle certified as organic if the plant goes through.îAccording to the U.S. Department of Transportationís Federal Highway Administration, fly ash is a fine, powdery particulate produced from burning pulverized coal.Dossey said as part of the variance of use application process, Pete Lien & Sons must be able to prove they can mitigate things like the particulates in the air. ìWe look at a lot of different things (regarding an application for approval) like hours of operation, light, noise, parking and erosion control,î he said.On Dec. 3, the EPC planning commission was supposed to consider the batch plantís application, but Dossey said that item was removed from the agenda and indefinitely continued because county staff had concerns about the traffic the plant would produce. They wanted Pete Lien & Sons to further address those concerns before going to the planning commission for a hearing.ìIt is all a public process so there is an opportunity to comment both at the planning commission meeting and the board of county commissioners meeting,î Dossey said.Renzelman said he and his wife plan to continue to fight the proposal and hope to obtain enough signatures to submit the petition to the county.ìIt is not going to be peaceful,î Renzelman said. ìThere will be a lot of noise, a lot of traffic, a lot of congestion, a lot of pollution. It just does not look like it would be a good area for this project.î
