The El Paso County Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend approval of a proposed wedding center, a decision an opponent called a blow to Black Forest’s community plan.
“I think the precedent has been set that in the future, small area plans don’t mean anything,” said Eddie Bracken, president of the watchdog Black Forest Community Club.
Thee Occasion isn’t yet a go. It still must pass a scheduled July 28 review by the El Paso County Commission.
Tuesday’s recommendation for approval is a reversal from March, when the planning panel rejected the idea. Millie Carlton redesigned the tentlike building into a more rustic structure, further tweaked the plan and resubmitted it.
As they did in March, several Black Forest residents spoke against the business, using slides and arguing that the center doesn’t suit the community.
The Black Forest Preservation Plan, a 1974 document intended to guide county planning decisions, recommends allowing commercial activities that accommodate the needs of local residents. That was among many clauses they pointed to Tuesday to support their arguments.
Carlton’s attorney, Duncan Bremer, countered that residents were trying to use the plan to keep others out.
“The Black Forest Preservation Plan does not promote the Black Forest being exclusive. I think some people want to use it that way,” he said. “It is supposed to be a community.”
Black Forest residents said the business planned near Black Forest and Shoup roads will tax the five-acre lot, creating drainage and traffic problems. They also objected to planning staff comparing the event center, designed to host anniversary parties, seminars, conferences and other large gatherings, to a church.
It is a for-profit business, they pointed out, and a large one.
“I’m very concerned about this thing being dressed up as a community center,” said Judy von Ahlefeldt, publisher of the weekly Black Forest News. “It is an event center.”
Bracken went further, suggesting county planning staff showed Carlton special favor.
“The review process appears out of balance in favor of the applicant,” he said. “It appears county planning staff went out of its way to rationalize an approval recommendation despite conflicts with relevant planning documents and broad community opposition.”
Carlton disagrees. More than 100 people, many of them from the Black Forest, signed a petition in favor of Thee Occasion, she said.
“Realistically, I think we made huge concessions to accommodate the Black Forest plan,” she said.
Bracken has long been concerned county officials are giving the plan less consideration. Because of that, he and other club board members assigned a group to study the idea of incorporating the Black Forest. The study is ongoing.