Park County commissioners move to advance Red Canoe minor subdivision and rezoning requests in Alma area

The Park County Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday directed staff to draft resolutions to approve a proposed minor subdivision and an associated rezoning for property owned by Red Canoe Holdings LLC south of the town of Alma.

Julie Estrel, the contract planner from Baseline Corporation, told the board the Red Canoe minor subdivision (case A25-0041) would split a roughly 100.38‑acre parcel at 405 County Road 19 into five lots: three 5‑acre lots intended for single‑family residential sale and two larger parcels (about 32 and 44 acres) intended to remain for a proposed recreational vehicle (RV) campground. Estrel said part of the parent parcel lies inside Alma town limits and therefore is not part of the county subdivision. She said the plan includes a dedication of County Road 19 to the public as requested by public works and that three public‑comment emails from immediate neighbors were in support.

Estrel described referral comments and outstanding technical items. Park County Public Works requested right‑of‑way dedication for County Road 19; the plat includes a dedication note. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said no wildlife permit was required for the proposal but recommended habitat‑sensitive practices at development. The Colorado Geological Survey requested that the 100‑year floodplain be shown on the plat and recommended setbacks; staff noted the floodplain mapping had been omitted from an earlier submittal and must be re-added.

Estrel said the planning division recommended approving the subdivision after the applicant corrects and resubmits the minor‑subdivision plat to fix the legal description, add floodplain limits, confirm easements, and remove a stale plat note pertaining to a parcel no longer included in the proposal. Planning commission recommended approval at its October meeting.

Applicant Lynn Smith Peter told commissioners the owners rezoned a portion of the parcel in 2019 for an RV campground and have since decided to sell three 5‑acre lots to help finance a smaller campground project. Peter said the owners engaged geotechnical and Phase I environmental reports; those reports and referrals found no active mining or geotechnical constraints that would preclude residential use on the proposed lots.

Commissioners questioned the order of actions — whether rezoning should precede lot creation — and received staff and applicant explanations why the owner sought to establish legal lots first. Commissioner questions also covered mining‑zoned portions of proposed lots, floodplain mapping and access to the lots (B Street in Alma for Lot 2 and County Road 19 for Lot 3).

After a public‑hearing period with no in‑person opposition, Commissioner Mitchell moved and the board voted 3‑0 to direct staff to prepare a resolution approving the Red Canoe minor subdivision plat subject to the conditions recommended by staff (correction and resubmittal of the plat to add the 100‑year floodplain, reconcile the legal description with title, show easements, remove an outdated note). Immediately afterward the board directed staff to prepare a resolution to rezone Lots 2 and 3 to Residential (case A25-0046), again with a condition that the rezoning exhibit be updated and resubmitted to match the final subdivision plat. Both matters will return to the board as resolutions for formal action and potential recording.