El Paso County panel recommends Bent Grass commercial plan
The proposal covers 53.91 acres near Woodmen Frontage Road; a traffic study projects 23,585 daily trips at full build-out. The county has scheduled separate hearings for the land-use requests and district financing plan.
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El Paso County’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended a 53.91-acre commercial plan with 14 lots near Woodmen Frontage Road and Bent Grass Meadows Drive. A traffic study projects 23,585 daily vehicle trips at full build-out; the recommendations still require action by the Board of County Commissioners.
The plan would create 14 commercial lots and five tracts. A related application seeks to rezone 17.17 acres from limited industrial to regional commercial. The commission recommended both land-use applications 7-0 on Oct. 15, subject to conditions. The county’s Nov. 12 agenda schedules them for Board consideration.
The proposed road work would realign Bent Grass Meadows Drive and Woodmen Frontage Road, add a roundabout, install a signal at Switchgrass Drive and modify the Golden Sage Road intersection to operate as a coordinated continuous green-T intersection. The applicant told the commission these changes are planned for the development’s initial phase. The traffic study’s 23,585-trip estimate is for full build-out, not that initial phase. A recommended condition would require the developer, with the first final plat, to construct and pave Bent Grass Meadows Drive along the property frontage as needed to meet county engineering standards, make associated repairs and post collateral for the work. Road impact fees would be assessed at a later land-use approval or building-permit stage, the county planning packet says.
The commission also recommended a service plan for a new Bent Grass Commercial Metropolitan District, by a 7-0 vote. The plan would authorize up to $33 million in debt and cap the district’s combined property-tax levy at 60 mills: 45 mills for debt service and 15 mills for operations and maintenance. These are proposed limits, not debt already issued or a county commitment to repay it. The applicant expects the district to help initially fund public improvements, including roads and signal equipment.
The proposed district would be separate from the existing Bent Grass Metropolitan District. County staff told commissioners that a proposed exclusion arrangement would prevent the existing district from issuing new debt against the affected property, but property owners would remain responsible for their share of existing district debt until it is paid. Owners could therefore have existing debt obligations alongside a levy from the new district while the old debt remains, the commission’s meeting record details.
The Board’s Nov. 12 hearing is for the rezoning and preliminary plan. It scheduled a separate Nov. 17 hearing for the district service plan at its Oct. 27 meeting; the Board approved the consent calendar containing that scheduling item 5-0, the meeting minutes record.