The Westcliffe Board of Trustees (BOT) held its regular meeting on July 15. Under Old Business, the BOT considered and approved a motion to re-zone a lot in the Shadow Ridge subdivision from highway commercial to single-family residential.
The first item under New Business was a setback variance for the Fire Protection District for the installation of a new generator and a new propane tank at their headquarters. A motion to grant the setback variance passed unanimously.
The next item of business concerned a request from CF Altitude LLC, which owns and operates the Alta store at the corner of 6th and Hermit Streets, concerning a modification of premises to allow the store to use the beer cave it had constructed last year to actually store beer and wine. “I know there’s some history with this,” said attorney Kevin Coates, referring to the decision, undertaken at the BOT’s meeting on July 16, 2024, to deny Alta the use of the beer cave on the grounds that the company had not followed proper permitting procedure for it.
Objections at that time centered not merely on improper permitting, but on concerns expressed by both Trustees and owners of the two existing liquor stores that the store would become “a beer store that sells gas, rather than a gas station that sells beer,” and that expanding alcohol sales at Alta would impact their businesses; concerns that were reiterated at the July 15 meeting.
“Alta has the liquor license and the license existed before they bought [the store],” Coates pointed out: “We just want to be able to use the beer cave.”
“I wish we had a lawyer right now,” said Trustee Mark Dembosky: “I have been reading through state liquor statutes, and there’s nothing there about impact on businesses, just neighborhoods.” Trustee Christy Patterson asked that the matter be tabled until the town had a new attorney in place. A motion to table the matter until the BOT’s August meeting passed unanimously. “We won’t use the cooler space until then,” said Coates.
Ray Tannenbaum, from Business Solutions, gave an IT report with recommendations for upgrading the town’s telephone system and IT software. Mayor Wenke called for a motion to approve the recommendations, which passed after discussion of budgeting requirements.
Consideration of waiving special use permit requests for the Saddle Club to use its outdoor lighting was tabled until the August meeting, as representation from the Saddle Club was not present. Discussion turned to weed spraying in the parks, with citizen Lisa Kelley expressing concerns about herbicide use. A Public Works representative answered her questions, stating that the town only sprayed twice per year for weeds with chemicals designed to be added to fertilizer: “it goes into the ground, and not into Grape Creek.”
Finally, Dembosky gave the Parks Advisory Committee report, with a recommendation for a budget increase to plant trees. “Any talk about planting trees in parks needs to consider Main Street as well,” said Wenke, “We need to have a budget workshop in August to talk about this.” A motion for the BOT to approve tree plant zones and make provisions for replacing/planting trees every year passed unanimously.
– Elliot Jackson
