“Some villain hath done me wrong.” William Shakespeare – King Lear, Act 2, Scene 2
On August 10, 2006, the Park County Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit (CUP) on a three-to-two vote for a concrete batch plant 2.5 miles southeast of Fairplay on Colorado 9. Current District 3 Commissioner Dave Wissel, then the Assessor, presented the case for the permit on behalf of a private company hired to represent IKE Concrete and Allen Drilling during the application process. The private company, GEGE Development Consulting, was organized, owned, and operated by Dave and Lillian Wissel. However, at the time, Wissel claimed it was his wife’s business. Interestingly, Lillian, who at the time had been appointed by the Park County Republican Party Central Committee to fill the District 3 Commissioner’s seat vacated by the death of the incumbent, had recused herself from the CUP proceedings.
Public comment opposing the concrete batch plant mirrored what we’ve heard recently in opposition to the aSkag LLC (organized by Adam and Kristi Shirley in 2022 specifically for the proposed transfer station on Wandcrest Drive) PUD permit. There was talk of the heavy industrial nature of the project, roadway safety hazards, wildlife, audio and visual impacts, impacts to hundreds of neighbors, and disregard for the Park County Strategic Master Plan and CUP guidelines and property values.
The 60 acres involved had been rezoned in 2005 from agricultural to mining, perhaps setting the stage for the 2006 conditional use permit application for a concrete batch plant.
We’ll recall who the Assessor was in 2005—Dave Wissel.
When it came time for the applicant’s representative to address citizen opposition, the elected Assessor, Dave Wissel (acting, he said, as a private citizen), and a principal of GEGE Development Consulting from the very beginning of its organization said this: “Where has the Constitution changed? This is a property right. What is the direct benefit of a conservation easement? Zero. It stays agriculture forever. This proposal adds to the tax roles. It enhances all by lowering taxes for all.”
It is important to repeat just one of Wissel’s observations: “What is the direct benefit of a conservation easement?”
Yes, there was public comment about Wissel’s apparent conflict of interest. But, of course, even the appearance of a conflict was summarily dismissed by the Chairman of the Planning Commission.
This history may or may not be relevant to the current Shirley dilemma. But, the question does arise if Wissel will again rely on no less than the Constitution, property rights, and the prospect of fattening the tax rolls when the aSkag permit is voted on tomorrow. And will Amy Mitchell, who shares Wissel’s ideological stances on most matters, follow suit? Or, considering she will seek a second term this year for her District 1 Commissioner seat, will she waffle? Like all politicians, I suspect she will evaluate her upcoming competition. If it appears weak, she will write off the opposition to the aSkag project as just another meddlesome bunch of east of Kenosha pie-in-the-sky citizens who don’t know what they’re talking about. As for District 2 Commissioner Dick Elsner, who is term-limited, who knows what his decision will be. He appeared to look kindly on the project in past BOCC discussions.
The 2016 Park County Strategic Master Plan is advisory only. It isn’t codified. It isn’t law. It is a contractor’s work product (RPI Consulting), and here’s how the document explains its purpose:
The Strategic Master Plan is a document that provides not just a vision for the future but also sets out specific goals, policies, land use planning, and action steps for achieving the vision. The plan provides direction for county decisions about water and land conservation, economic development, land use and development patterns, infrastructure and services, and coordination between Park County and the municipalities of Fairplay and Alma.
This is the community’s document and it can be used to protect the unique qualities and natural amenities that continue to make Park County such a unique place to live and visit. This plan will also serve to set the general guidance for future development and inform land-use decisions.
The Strategic Master Plan is not regulatory and does not change existing regulations, nor does it create new regulations. It is an advisory document that charts a direction for strategic economic and infrastructure planning and provides guidance for changes to the Land Use Regulations as a component of this strategic planning.
The Master Plan includes the word “industrial” sixty-one times. The phrase “light industrial” or “mountain light industrial” appears eight times.
The plan does not mention heavy industrial use or mountain heavy industrial use. May we then assume that the vision for Park County in 2016 did not include heavy industrial uses because “the unique qualities and natural amenities” of the county necessarily precluded that any thought should be given to it? Was it a given that heavy industrial uses in Park County were unthinkable?
The relevance of the 2016 Park County Strategic Master Plan to the current dilemma of whether or not the Board of County Commissioners will approve a heavy industrial use (waste transfer station) bordering a residential neighborhood is interesting, if only for its silence on the issue. As I said, was it a given that heavy industrial uses in Park County were unthinkable?
Whatever tomorrow’s Board of County Commissioners decision on the aSkag permit will be, the issue of precisely what we believe Park County is and should be will continue to crop up. Are we, as a Fairplay resident recently asked, becoming the Commerce City for the Western Slope? Or is it unthinkable for our little slice of heaven to encompass heavy industrial uses in the name of property rights and fattened property tax rolls?
Indeed, another one has just cropped up. The citizen petition reads: “As residents living less than 500 feet from the proposed site for an asphalt and concrete plant at the Elle Belle Mine in Fairplay, we are deeply concerned about this development. Our homes, neighbors’ homes, and beloved community spaces such as the Platte River, Town of Fairplay, and Fairplay Beach are all under threat.”
We’ll watch whatever develops on the proposed Elle Belle Mine asphalt and concrete plant. Will the Park County BOCC and Planning Commission view west of Kenosha opposition more favorably than aSkag opposition east of Kenosha?
More information on GEGE Development Consulting, the Wissel family business is here.
