On June 4, the El Paso County Planning Commission unanimously approved three requests by McCune Ranch LLC, to rezone two portions of the 766.66-acre property, along with the preliminary plan for the Winsome subdivision, formerly known as the McCune Ranch. The property is located at the northwest corner of the Hodgen Road and Meridian Road intersection and is included in the Black Forest Preservation Plan.One rezoning request seeks to change 7.88 acres from residential rural-5 to a commercial community zoning district. The other seeks to change 350.26 acres from RR-5 and agricultural-35 zoning to RR-2.5.The preliminary plan will create 143 single-family residential lots with an overall density of one dwelling unit per 5 acres for the entire property, one commercial lot of 4.36 acres, 151.238 acres of open space, drainage tracts and rights-of-way. In all, the property will consist of 7.88 acres of commercial community zoning, 350.26 acres of RR-2.5 zoning and 408.52 acres of RR-5 zoning.During the meeting, concerns were raised about traffic, water sufficiency and the creation of a Title 32 special district that has not yet been approved. Andrea Barlow, principal planner with N.E.S. Inc., addressed each concern, and said the traffic assessment already completed indicates that traffic levels are low and blind hills and sight access have both been considered during placement of intersections and emergency access points. ìAll traffic requirements have been met,î she said.Regarding water sufficiency and the creation of a special district, Barlow said sufficiency has been established in the Dawson aquifer, and plans for the development are moving forward on the assumption that the future special district will be approved.The planning commission approved the preliminary plan, although sufficiency for water quality, quantity and dependability has not been finalized. The BOCC will consider water sufficiency when they receive the final plat for approval.All three requests were forwarded to the EPC Board of County Commissioners for approval on June 24; the board continued the matter until July 9.
