All it takes is one look at Independent Log Co.’s northeast property line where it meets the trailhead for the 72-acre Carpenter Natural Area to understand that the city of Cortez should flatly deny the company’s request to rezone from commercial to industrial. The contrast is stark. The gem that is Carpenter, with trails winding through the subtle beauty of high desert, is too delicate and well-loved to risk harm.
Industrial zoning is incompatible next to this open space and an established neighborhood. If this property were to go industrial, there’s no going back.
Already, south bordering neighbors in Montview are worried by recent activity on the ILC property – the digging into the hillside below homes; the grading and moving of fill material toward Carpenter’s marshy water and floodplain; the cutting of vegetation and burning of slash piles. The storing of more heavy equipment. All without permits.
In 2021, Anthony D. Moore and Mary K. Lancaster purchased this previously vacant commercial land on Lebanon Road, once the old drive-in theater, to store heavy equipment and build log homes. Their rezoning application includes a proposed firefighting training facility that would store firefighting equipment, too.
But this property isn’t the place for that. If the city is swayed by ILC’s request, it should instead initiate a land swap for a more suitable property. This 10-acre parcel could then be reclaimed by Carpenter’s watery extensions that seasonally drain west with some flooding. Grasses, cattails and willows, and their inhabitants could fill in.
But first things first – absolute “no” to industrial zoning.
Concerning, though, is Cortez Contract City Planner Nancy Dosdall’s June 6 memo – where we detect bias – to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Dosdall said: “They have been cited for code violations for operating without permits. This request, if approved, would bring the property into conformance with the City of Cortez Land Use Code (LUC).”
Bringing this property “into conformance” should not be the city’s concern or business.
Also in the memo: “The proposed uses related to wood products do appear to fit in the definition of ‘manufacturing, wood products’ and ‘manufacturing, heavy,’ which the code lists as a Conditional use in the Commercial Highway zone and a permitted use in the Industrial zone.”
Later, with industrial “the most permissive zone in regards to outdoor storage and uses in general,” a tacked-on Conditional Use Permit could “allow the proposed outdoor storage uses, for which the code is unclear,” Dosdall’s memo said. Unknown is exactly what an additional permit would provide. Cortez Land Use Code section 5.07 (j) doesn’t permit open storage “except as an accessory use to a main use located in a building.” No junk or salvage yards or high stacks of logs out in the open. But no building is planned.
It’s confusing. But there’s a feeling of permits meeting company’s circumstances, rather than circumstances meeting criteria for permits. This is backward.
LUC section 6.02 (d) asks, “Are the proposed uses compatible with the surrounding area or uses?” No, wildly incompatible, to answer the question.
ILC owners purchased a commercial property – it should remain that way. Sure, rezoning would benefit owners with the expansion of uses. But a greater number of people – neighbors, walkers and wanderers, bikers and bird watchers – would suffer the impacts.
For water quality alone, it would be bad news to use fire suppressant chemicals and toxins on a property with a flood plain. Near Dolores and Mancos, log processing operations billowed dust and fires took too long to extinguish. Too risky.
Noise, smoke, fumes, lower property values and potential harm to Carpenter are all reasons for Cortez to say “no.” Not here.
It’s all happening too quickly. Some neighbors recently learned about the situation. One reason being city code requires notice sent to neighbors within 300 feet, which were only two. Even though others could see, hear and smell what’s been going on, they weren’t aware of the rezoning request.
The ILC property is bounded by city open space to the north and east, residential properties to the east and south, and Lebanon Road to the west.
Carpenter, south of the Geer Natural Area, is home to more than 170 species of plants and wildlife. Locals keep tabs on families of foxes, rabbits and birds. Frogs sing on spring evenings. The paved trail is a favorite for hospital workers on break. Volunteers show up in force on annual cleanup days to pull invasive weeds and maintain trails. After rains, varieties of sage and mock orange are lightly fragrant, and Indian ricegrass and other native grasses bend in waves in the breeze.
Cortez City Council will make the rezoning decision. A reading of the application is on Aug. 8. Councilors will hear public comments, then vote on Aug. 22.
We hope councilors honor residents who value Carpenter and neighbors’ peace of mind by voting “no” on this rezoning request. It’s not the place for it.
