Highway 84 property owners Dawn Vrastil testifies at the October 20 Archuleta Board of County Commissioners’ meeting, regarding the operations of the 84 Ranch. Screenshot from the Archuleta County website.
At the end of Part One, we heard Florida resident Dawn Vrastil addressing the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners regarding the consent agenda for the Board of Adjustments. The BOCC acts as the Board of Adjustments, and a consent agenda normally contains items that require no discussion — in this case, the approval of a resolution that merely documents a previous BOCC action, approved unanimously on August 18. The approvals related to 84 Ranch, which operates under the leadership of entrepreneur Brian Wattier.
…a General Variance from the Archuleta County Land Use Regulations for 84 Ranch Land Holding Company LLC at Lot 45, at 6252A US HWY 84.
We will hear from Mr. Wattier in a future installment.
Ms. Vrastil and her husband William (whom we will hear from shortly) own a 70-acre property directly across the highway from the 84 Ranch 42-acre pig farm and ‘agritourism’ operation. The Vrastils are unhappy with the County’s approval and enforcement of variances for 84 Ranch.
Apparently, very unhappy.
Ms. Vrastil claimed that Mr. Wattier had provided the County with “misinformation” during his application for a Wilderness Lodging Permit last year, and she implied that the permit was therefore invalid.
“Wilderness lodging” operations are a type of lodging allowable in the “Agricultural Ranching” zones, with an approved permit.
Part of Ms. Vrastil’s testimony:
“84 Ranch is still not compliant with property access and failed a recent CDOT inspection…” (Highway 84 is a state highway and access changes need approval from the Colorado Department of Transportation, CDOT.)
“But it is business as usual for the lodging units on his property. I would like to note that I do understand that even this morning, it looked as though the completion of the work, the construction part, had been done, but we are still waiting on a second inspection… After submitting a CORA request and reviewing this project, I have found 15 violations that have not been followed up by the County…”
“CORA” is the Colorado Open Records Act, which gives citizens the right to review and obtain copies of government records. Nearly all records in the possession of a Colorado government are considered ‘public property’ and are thus available for review, with a few exceptions.
When 84 Ranch obtained variances and permits for their ‘agritourism’ operations, certain conditions were attached to the approvals with the understanding that the Wattier family would make the necessary upgrades to the Ranch property. The County Planning Department is normally tasked with verifying that permit conditions have been met.
But the County Planning Department has been notoriously understaffed for the past year, with new staff who were still “learning the ropes”. Earlier this month, the Planning Director was fired, and the rest of the department staff resigned. Planning applications are being handled now by County Administration staff, on top of their regular duties. We can assume that very little “enforcement” of land use violations is currently taking place.
Ms. Vrastil:
“Today, I’m submitting these violations through the County’s formal complaint forms for the County to immediately correct these violations.
“The County has been resistant to discussing these concerns with us on multiple occasions, and therefore not allowing due process or transparency — as we are all, as well as the community, entitled to and deserve.
“I’m formally asking that the legal department to meet with us and review the documented violations before the County signs this variance resolution today. I request that the Board of County Commissioners issue a cease and desist order
on the continued business operations at Highway 84 Ranch until all violations are [reviewed] and the required inspections are completed by the proper authorities.”
Following her testimony, Ms. Vrastil handed a stack of documents to County Attorney Cathleen Giovannini. Then Ms. Vrastil’s husband, William, stepped up to the microphone.
As mentioned, the Vrastils are residents of Florida, where they reportedly run a cattle ranch, perhaps similar to their cattle ranch on Highway 84, across the highway from 84 Ranch.
Mr. Vrastil pointed to the informational “Core Values” plaques mounted on the wall behind the commissioners.
“Commissioners, I’d like to go ahead and ask you to reaffirm what’s on the plaque right behind you, and specifically the last sentence there where it says, ‘Accountability with maximum transparency.’
“The complaint forms we’re filing with the County Attorney today point out the lack of due process throughout this applicant’s progression from the initial filing to today. My objective is to show where due process was not followed on this project, and ensure that any future applications follow the policies, rules, and regulations on the books today for the protection of our community.”
There’s a general assumption that land use codes protect our community. But they also harm our community.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a suggestion from Commissioner Veronica Medina, made in a public meeting, that the County Land Use Regulations (LURs) were “a mess” and were “not enforced” and really ought to be “tossed out the window” and replaced with brand news codes that were not only enforceable but also allowed maximum freedom for property owners to develop and use their property. She implied that the current LURs ares too complicated and don’t meet the current needs of our county.
During public comment at a subsequent BOCC meeting, I voiced my support for Commissioner Medina’s proposal, and additionally recommended that the County eliminate zoning.
The County wasn’t zoned until 2006, and in my humble opinion, zoning has caused nothing but discord, disagreement, expense, and litigation ever since.
My stance reflects a general “live and let live” philosophy. If someone owns a 70-acre ranch on Highway 84 and they want to run cattle on it, let them do so.
But “Agricultural” zoning encourages a person to try and prevent their neighbor across the highway from operating a tourism-friendly pig farm on his 42 acres.
Most Planning Directors would be horrified at the thought of a county without zoning. But there are at least 517 counties in the U.S. that are not “zoned”. That’s about one in every six U.S. counties.
Read Part Three… tomorrow…
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can't seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.