La Plata County commissioners on Tuesday approved a new business in the Grandview area, as well as 14 new homes in Bayfield.
The new business in Grandview, just east of Durango, was previously recommended for approval by the Planning Commission in December.
The project calls for a new 9,180-square-foot commercial retail store on about 1.87 acres to be located at 29639 U.S. Highway 160, the land east of the Fun Center. For reference, the Fun Center is about 30,000 square feet.
Tiffany Rhodes with Southwest Land Services representing the property owner, Georgia-based Leaf Properties, said the project does not have a tenant.
“That is the No. 1 question everyone asks,” Rhodes said. “Right now, we have about four potential tenants … but at this point, we don’t have one 100% locked in.”
Rhodes said only one business will occupy the new space.
The Colorado Department of Transportation granted access to the property off U.S. Highway 160. It’s believed a future access road will be built behind the property, near County Road 233, county officials said.
Rhodes said it took the developer about a year of working with the county to reach this point of approval. Commissioner Julie Westendorff said she hopes the upcoming land-use code revisions expedite the process for developments in areas that make sense, like this one.
“This is the poster child of how a project should be fast-tracked,” Westendorff said.
Commissioners also approved a conceptual design for 14 new homes and three farm houses on a 360-acre property near Bayfield.
The property is part of the Heartwood Ranch subdivision, about 1 mile west of Bayfield and about a quarter-mile north of U.S. Highway 160.
The subdivision currently has 24 homes. In the past few years, developers have worked to improve access near Highway 160 and County Road 506 and now plan to build 14 new homes on about 3 acres as part of Phase 2 of the neighborhood.
The remaining 350 acres will be designated as open space.
No public comments were received for the project. Commissioners unanimously approved the conceptual design, which means the developer must come back and receive approval for actual construction plans.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
