Developers seek final approval from county commissioners as Castle Rock sounds the alarm about water

A historic ranch in Douglas County could soon become a large commercial and residential development. While it may provide entertainment options and needed housing for the growing county, some worry the community lacks the resources to accommodate the growth. It's now up to Douglas County commissioners to approve the project, which has been in the works for years.

The proposed Pine Canyon development is in unincorporated Douglas County but is surrounded by the town of Castle Rock.

The land is located on both the east and west sides of Interstate 25. To the east, it is north of Scott Boulevard, south of Black Feather Trail, west of Founders Parkway and east of Front Street. West of I-25, the property is east of Prairie Hawk Drive, south of Highway 85 and bisected by Liggett Road.

The Walker family has owned this land for decades, but as Castle Rock becomes more urban, they say it's too difficult to continue cattle ranching there and it's time for the land to be developed. However, neighbors and the town of Castle Rock are opposing the plan.

"This area from up to Founders down to Front Street," said Brian Fienen, pointing from his backyard.

Fienen's Woodlands home backs up to the property.

"The only reason we bought this house was the view," Fienen said.

He's been fighting plans to develop it for nine years.

"Gut-wrenching. They're gonna be decreasing my property value, they're taking my views away, they're gonna be killing the wildlife," Fienen said.

The 530-acre proposed Pine Canyon development would include 1,800 homes and a resort hotel. Fienen is concerned that Castle Rock's infrastructure can't handle it.

"That's a lot of people back there, that's a lot of traffic back there," Fienen said.

The Walker family says the development would make traffic improvements and reduce congestion on roads by creating new transportation connections.

The proposal also includes open space and an elementary school site, but voters would need to approve the funding to build a new school, something that's been a roadblock to other developments like Sterling Ranch.

"In the meantime, we're introducing all these new people here. They can't keep up," Fienen said.

Fienen is not the only one who says there aren't enough resources for Pine Canyon.

"They're proposing urban-level density off of this nonrenewable water supply," said Castle Rock Water Director Mark Marlowe.

Castle Rock has opposed the development, saying it puts burdens on town roads, services and residents.

"Obviously, we're concerned about them developing solely off nonrenewable groundwater," Marlowe said.

Castle Rock is transitioning away from groundwater, aiming to preserve the limited resources for times of drought. The town currently gets about 30% of its water from renewable sources and hopes to increase that number to 100% by 2065.

Marlowe says Pine Canyon proposes one of the lowest water standards he has seen for a new development.

"They're proposing to develop off of about one-fifth of what Castle Rock would require, for example, in terms of nonrenewable groundwater," Marlowe said.

Landowner Kurt Walker says the development will have "more than enough" water, as the land comes with its own water rights and would have no impact on Castle Rock's water system. Walker says they will leave more than a third of the water in the ground and will recycle 100% of their wastewater.

"Recycling the water is a good thing," Marlowe said. "But they're going to put in high water-using turf in that development and they're going to use that water to water the turf which is, in my opinion, not the ideal way to recycle water because you only get to use that recycled water one time."

Because the development isn't in Castle Rock, it won't be subject to town regulations such as limits on cool-weather turf in new developments.

Marlowe wants the development to have a long-term renewable and sustainable water supply. He believes Pine Canyon would eventually need to connect to Castle Rock's water supply, but if they do so later, they won't have invested in the resource. That's why he hopes the development will partner with the town now.

"My hope is that the Walker family will come back and work with us and we're able to get them annexed into the town, get them connected into a renewable water supply," Marlowe said.

Monday night, the County Planning Commission voted to recommend lowering the development's water standard to 0.273 acre-feet of groundwater per home per year. This is lower than the county demand standard of 0.75 acre-feet per year. The commission also voted in favor of approving the development's rezoning, with conditions.

One of those conditions allowed for the inclusion of ballfields in the development. Building those would be a partnership with Douglas County.

The fields are a big selling point for some community members, who have been concerned about potential renovations at the fairgrounds worsening an existing lack of playing fields in the county.

Mark Steinke, president of Raptors Athletics, said, "Raptors Athletics has been facing the elimination of fields that are vital to our program over the last couple of months. Every official that we've talked to about the situation has been sympathetic, but they also said that we needed to find a plan. Kurt Walker is the first person to actually step up and offer a solution for the youth of Castle Rock. We absolutely support that."

County commissioners will have the final say on the rezoning and water appeal on Sept. 10.

Fienen worries they'll approve it. It's a trend he says he's noticing from local leaders and isn't happy about.

"The town and the county need to stop rubber-stamping every single development that comes in front of them. They're single-handedly destroying the beauty of this county," Fienen said. "It's totally compromised the small-town feel of Castle Rock."