PARKER, Colo. — There's a renewed push to develop a roughly 800-acre plot of land off Crowfoot Valley Road in Parker into homes in the area known as Crowsnest.
The project was previously shot down by officials in Parker, Castle Rock and most recently Castle Pines. Now, developers are seeking the approval of the Douglas County Planning Commission to turn the are into zoning for Urban Development.
▶️ Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito hears concerns from residents amid renewed push to develop Crowsnest property
Some nearby residents, though, are speaking out against the plan, citing an immense amount of growth in a area around Crowsnest.
"Within the two-square miles of where we stand right now, there's 300 apartments that are currently under construction," Parker resident Joe Lugo told Denver7's DougCo Reporter Tyler Melito. "There's currently houses still being developed here in Trails of Crowfoot, Looking Glass, which is right behind me. There's thousands of units being put in there, and then Anthology. So they just created the Chambers Extension, which pretty much goes from here all the way up to Hess Road; there, there's about 4,000-5000 homes going in there. Within the next five years, there will be an additional, you know, 7,000+ homes being built here before we even talk about this development."
Lugo and some of his neighbors are working around the clock to prevent the development of Crowsnest.
"At what point does it stop? When are we going to actually start preserving some of these open lands. When are the developers going to responsibly and sustainably build these properties," Lugo said.
Lugo said he left the hustle and bustle of the east coast for the calm of Colorado. As a real estate agent, he questions the need for more.
"I grew up in New York City, so I know what the urban soil is like. I moved to Colorado to get away from that," Lugo explained. "There's so many homes being constructed currently and will continue to be constructed over the next few years. My question is, and I think everybody else's question is, 'Why are we building everything right now?"
But Lugo isn't the only person with concerns.
Iren Bonham, a Parker resident near Crowsnest and candidate for County Commissioner in Douglas County this November, questions the developers intentions.
"I live in this neighborhood, so it is happening in my own backyard," Bonham told Melito. "I've not heard from the developer. I've not heard from the owners. I haven't heard from anybody who's involved in terms of trying to build this area up, and would love to be a part of that conversation."
Bonham added one of the reasons she is running for commissioner is to ensure more public input when it comes to projects like this.
"We should be having a community engagement process, something that goes a bit above board than just open comment at a meeting," Bonham told Melito
Then there's Meg Christian, whose family moved to the area a few years ago, partially because of the view as their home looks right at Crowsnest.
"What's the data and research showing that these homes are needed?" Christian asked.
Christian's primary concern is for the wildlife in the area.
"We see elk, we see eagles, we see owls, we see deer and mule, and I have pictures of all of them because they're just so beautiful to look at," Christian detailed.
A few weeks ago there was an elk that had been hit."
Then there are concerns over infrastructure.
"There's water, which is a huge one. We're in a drought," Christian said. "I'm hearing that we just don't have enough water as a county, and our county, I learned on Monday, actually supplies to all the way up to Greeley and Boulder, so the fact that we are going to run out of water by 2050 is an extreme factor to me that we don't need more of these homes."
"Castle Pines, Castle Rock, and Parker — all three towns have said that this is not a good development," Lugo added. "There's not enough water. There's going to be traffic problems."
On Monday, the Douglas County Planning Commission spent four hours hearing concern from the public, as well as more details from the developer VT Crowfoot Valley Landco, LLC.
Some in attendance expressed support for the project.
"If you say no, we are closing a door on any couple who wants to come here and raise their kids," one attendee said during public comment.
Melito reached out to VT Crowfoot Valley Landco, LLC for comment, specifically on the issues of wildlife, water and traffic.
Dan Williams, a representative for the company sent the following responses to each issue:
Open Space & Wildlife: This is the first time all nine owners have come together across 15 parcels, which is what makes a master-planned approach possible at all. At this scale, Lemon Gulch can be preserved as a contiguous corridor — roughly 100 acres — with public access and trail connections. The alternative to a coordinated plan isn't open space; it's piecemeal development of private land, parcel by parcel, with no public access and no opportunity for a contiguous corridor. On wildlife, the property was reviewed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and an independent natural-resource assessment. We'll follow the protections and seasonal timing CPW recommends.
Traffic: Crowfoot Valley Road is planned as a four-lane arterial, and segments of the corridor have already been widened. We've completed multiple traffic studies and assessments on this property — the earlier ones submitted with our Castle Pines application, and the current assessment submitted to the Douglas County Planning Commission — analyzing future conditions against that planned capacity. Development is being planned around that capacity, and any required road improvements would be built as part of the project.
Water: Amending a land-use map doesn't put a single home on the ground. No home in Colorado gets built without a demonstrated, adequate water supply — that protection applies to this property no matter how it's designated. Service would come through inclusion in the Parker Water and Sanitation District or another qualified provider.
General: The Planning Commission is not being asked to approve a single home at this stage. The question in the application is whether this land — nestled between five master-planned communities, within the three-mile plans of three adjacent municipalities, and straddling a four-lane arterial — is urban or rural.
During Monday's meeting, the planning commission voted to table any decision on Crowsnest for the time being.
