On June 3, 2019, Pete Lien & Sons Inc. submitted a letter of intent to El Paso County for a proposed ready mix concrete batch on 25 acres of a 92-acre tract of land at the intersection of Judge Orr Road and Stapleton Drive. On Dec. 3, the development application for the batch plant was scheduled to be heard by the EPC planning commission but was removed from the agenda with county staff citing concerns about the traffic the facility would produce.Since then, residents of the neighboring properties have been working to oppose the plantís proximity to their homes.Adrian Reed, a Falcon resident, has taken the lead in circulating a petition to stop the construction of the plant and already has more than 200 signatures.She said a huge problem with the proposal is the conflict between the current usage allowed on the property versus how Pete Lien & Sons would use it.According to the EPC assessorís website, the property in question and the others surrounding it are zoned agricultural-35. But Reed said the concrete batch plant is clearly an industrial usage.ìThe point of zoning is to determine the size of a property and what its usage is going to be,î she said. ìThere are codes and regulations for each type of zoning. The codes for A-35 (agricultural-35) have nothing to do with industrial usage.îReed said Pete Lien & Sons has not asked to change the zoning from A-35 to industrial because that would not be compatible with the surrounding propertiesí zoning, but they have requested a permanent variance of use, which amounts to the same thing.ìThey can get a temporary batch plant variance but that is only good for two years,î she said. ìTheir request is for a permanent variance (from A-35 to industrial), which says that this piece of property will always be used for industrial purposes.îAccording to the EPC land development code, the EPC Board of County Commissioners is permitted to grant a variance of use to allow a usage on a property different from what the property is zoned. However, the LDC outlines specific criteria each variance of use might have to meet to be considered by the BOCC, including the following: ìThe proposed use is compatible with the surrounding area, harmonious with the character of the neighborhood, not detrimental to the surrounding area, not detrimental to future development of the area, and not detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of the inhabitants of the area and County.îReed said the industrial nature of the concrete batch plant meets none of those criteria.Danielle Wiebers, executive technical director of environment and safety affairs for Pete Lien & Sons, said when the company was looking for land to purchase, they knew the property would need to be zoned industrial but the available industrial parcels were not large enough for this concrete batch plant operation.ìOur total footprint ñ- the plant, office area, parking, everything ñ- would be within 25 acres of the 92-acre lot,î she said. ìThe remaining 67 acres that surrounds the footprint is expected to remain as grazing (land), and we do not plan on changing the use of that at all. We put it (the plant) in the middle of the property so the closest property line is 500 feet away.îReed said the plant also poses health dangers for the neighbors in the area since the wind basically never stops blowing and the materials used at the plant to mix the concrete will inevitably end up blowing onto other properties.Wiebers said Pete Lien & Sons has obtained an air quality permit with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; and the plant was deemed a minor source of air contaminants.ìThat permit covers all activities associated with concrete,î Wiebers said. ìWe know there is a concern about dust, and we have committed to having bag houses, storage silos for ingredients, partial enclosures for the stockpiles areas; and prewash the aggregates off-site. We usually have to pave the gravel access roads, and we use a regular wash application on those roads so there will be no scouring of the roads.îReed said another concern is for the amount of traffic the facility will generate. On peak days, the plant will have 118 concrete truck deliveries and 74 raw material deliveries, she said.Wiebers said those numbers are based on the worst-case-scenario for a plant as large as the companyís facility on Drennan Road, which is their largest. However, Pete Lien & Sons already has trucks on the roads near the proposed plant so not all of the traffic in the area would be new, she said.Additionally, the proposed facility site will put their trucks about 30 to 40 miles closer to many of the construction sites they deliver to, which should result in a drop in emissions, but some roads will have additional traffic, Wiebers said. ìThe traffic study will line out which roads we are putting more traffic on, where traffic controls may be needed and what we need to partner with the county on as far as their needs to handle additional traffic,î she said.The traffic study should be completed in March and ready to submit to the county, Wiebers said.The countyís LDC also states a variance of use applicant could be required to address all off-site impacts, which Reed said Pete Lien & Sons has not done. They have not addressed the negative impacts on property and home values, nor have they considered the impact to the Saddlehorn Ranch, a development that has already been platted for 2.5-acre parcels, she said.According to the EPC electronic development application review program, ROI Property Group LLC owns the property Reed referenced. They submitted a letter of concern: ìROI is deeply concerned that heavy construction traffic, noise and dust normally associated with a batch plant will negatively impact marketing and development of Saddlehorn Ranch [the platted property] ó which will include equestrian trails and approximately 135 acres set aside as no-build open space to maintain its rural character.îWiebers said the county has not requested an assessment of the impact on property values if the plant is approved.Reed said the decision to build a plant on the proposed location is purely an economic move for Pete Lien & Sons and will not benefit the local economy. It will tarnish the rural nature of the existing residences, she said.ìWe do not have a plan B,î Wiebers said. ìWe are pretty committed to making this one work.î
