Subdivision approval on hold due to easement questions

At the May 5 Hot Springs County Land Use Planning Commission held at the Annex building, the commission continued their discussion of the Red Rim Ranch Subdivision application. The application was previously discussed at the April 20 meeting where public comments were given.

At this meeting, there were no formal public comments. However, the planning commission did ask questions of both the applicant Brian Hayek and residents of the Red Rim area, particularly those who live on Lane 14.

The planning commission was evaluating the application to see if they would recommend or not a land-use change to the Hot Springs County Commissioners. The change would be from agricultural to residential for a potential 88 single-family lots of a housing subdivision.

The meeting’s attendance was significant, with all seats taken and some standing. Many of the attendees were residents of Lane 14. In the April 20 meeting, the most common issue of opposition to the development was over the roads and the amount of potential traffic on them. The roads are gravel or dirt roads and they suffer from significant erosion from use. If they were bladed and made smooth, the washboard and other erosion issues would return after just two to three days of use. 

The planning commission asked about the roads and specifically inquired about residents from Lane 14. Multiple residents voiced their concerns, but the most significant item about the Lane 14 road was its easements. There was uncertainty if the applicant Brian Hayek had all the proper easements for that road that would be legally satisfactory for him to use it. Several people who were in the conversation said Hayek does not have all the easements in order.

Planning commission chair Adam Estenson said, “this is starting to feel like déjà vu a little bit where we’re being put in a position to make a legal decision on that easement. None of us are lawyers. None of us are land experts.”

Planning commission member Merrill Ready said that he wanted to know more information about the easement and that he couldn’t move forward with the application. Typically, the planning commission goes through a checklist that scores the application and helps determine if they should recommend or not to the county commissioners. The problem of the easement uncertainty did not allow the planning commission to start the checklist. 

After further discussion, Ready motioned to table the application until Lane 14 access was settled or another proposal was made. Commission member Harvey Seidel seconded. Estenson said that the other proposal could be a different plan of access or if their plat mapping could be adjusted to allow an alternative route or any other idea of a Plan B. 

The planning commission will meet again on May 18 to do a work session with no action to be taken. The purpose of this session is to have the commission go over the application so that they can give Hayek further direction. Hayek is not expected to attend that work session.