Recap: Zoning Meeting for Rock Rest Project
Please note I am not an employee or board member of Pleasant View Metropolitan District or Jefferson County. I just live in Pleasant View and want to help people know what’s going on and have a say in making our community great!
I attended the zoning community meeting on February 5 about the property surrounding the Rock Rest on South Golden Road. Here’s a quick recap!
Project Location
Grand American is a development company that bought the triangular property between South Golden, Mt Vernon, and 10th Avenue.
In the photo below, you can see an approximately 5-acre area in orange that is the majority of the triangle-shaped property. That is “Planning Area 1” where the multi-use development will be built. If you’re familiar with the area, it’s the grassy/gravel field that is to the west of the Rock Rest Lodge.
The smaller, blue area at the point of the triangle on the right side is “Planning Area 2.” Planning Area 2 is where the Rock Rest currently sits. It has its own Planning Area because it will not be changed or re-developed.
The small square in the lower left corner, where the orange arrow points to, is an additional .3-acre property acquired by Grand American. Grand American wants to add this property to the planned development project that was approved in 2024. To do that, they have to hold a community meeting as step one of the zoning and planning process.
What is the Planned Development?
Since the project is still in the zoning approval phase, there are no confirmed designs yet.
The general concept for the project is to have residential and business areas, or a mixed-use development. Up to 8,400 square feet can have ground-floor businesses. The remaining square footage has to be ground floor residences, like townhouses or other multi-story housing.
The two-story section of the project would be set back from the street and the Rock Rest, so the building would gradually go up and be tallest in the middle. The additional property discussed at the meeting would be for emergency vehicle access.
I asked if the developers had any intention to acquire that remaining property in the lower-left corner that is surrounded by the project boundaries. They said no.
When would development start?
Not for a while! The earliest estimate provided at the meeting was a year and a half. The project has to go through these steps of the planning and rezoning process with the county:
The development company makes design plans and submits them to the county to formally complete their application.
Referral Stage: Those design plans are send to other departments, like the fire department, water/sewer departments, etc. The other departments can comment with questions or concerns and the project plans are revised until all those issues are fixed.
Jefferson County Planning Commission Public Hearing: The first public hearing is with the Jefferson County planning commission. The public can comment at the meeting and also submit written comments. All project documents are made publicly available at this point as well.
Final Approval Meeting: The second and final public hearing is with the Jefferson County Commissioners, who ultimately approve or deny the project. The public can also attend this meeting and comment.
The bottom line is that any formal development designs still have to made, but more housing and walkable businesses are coming to South Golden eventually. The Rock Rest is staying the same. The earliest groundbreaking wouldn’t happen until the end of 2026.
I had a great experience attending the meeting. I learned a lot; the architect from Ripley Design and an employee from Jeffco’s planning office were happy to answer questions and make sure community members understood what was going on.
If you’re interested in regularly attending the Jeffco Planning Commission Meetings, you can find that information here: https://www.jeffco.us/2359/Planning-Commission
If you want to attend Jeffco County Commissioner meetings, you can find that information at this link: https://www.jeffco.us/2115/Meetings
All the meetings have options to join virtually, which was super helpful for me to actually attend.
Please note I am not an employee or board member of Pleasant View Metropolitan District or Jefferson County. I just live in Pleasant View and want to help people know what’s going on and have a say in making our community great!