McCullough v. Grand Junction

CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 29, 2025
Docket24CA1391
StatusUnpublished

This text of McCullough v. Grand Junction (McCullough v. Grand Junction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCullough v. Grand Junction, (Colo. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

24CA1391 McCullough v Grand Junction 05-29-2025

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS

Court of Appeals No. 24CA1391 Mesa County District Court No. 22CV30352 Honorable Valerie J. Robinson, Judge

Claire McCullough, Sara Woods, and Daniel Woods,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

and

Richard McCreanor,

Plaintiff,

v.

The City of Grand Junction, The City of Grand Junction City Council, and Kettle Capital, LLC,

Defendants-Appellees.

JUDGMENT AFFIRMED

Division VI Opinion by JUDGE SCHUTZ Welling and Kuhn, JJ., concur

NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced May 29, 2025

Drew Moore, Grand Junction, Colorado, for Plaintiffs-Appellants

No Appearance for Plaintiff

John P. Shaver, City Attorney, Jamie B. Beard, Assistant City Attorney, Grand Junction, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees The City of Grand Junction and The City of Grand Junction City Council Dufford Waldek, Shelly S. Dackonish, Scott D. Goebel, Grand Junction, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee Kettle Capital, LLC ¶1 Claire McCullough, Sara Woods, and Daniel Woods

(collectively, the neighbors)1 appeal the district court’s judgment

affirming a City of Grand Junction (the City) resolution, passed by a

vote of the City of Grand Junction City Council (council), approving

a rezoning application filed by Kettle Capital, LLC (developer)

(collectively, the Defendants). We affirm.

I. Background and Procedural History

¶2 This dispute centers around the rezoning of an approximately

fifteen-acre parcel of property located in the Redlands area of Grand

Junction. The Redlands are bordered by the Colorado River, the

Colorado Monument, and the Lower Red Canyon, which serves as a

wildlife corridor.

¶3 The subject property is currently improved with a single-family

residence. It is bordered by Broadway on the south, and an

elementary school to the north. The eastern border of the property

is a designated floodplain known as the Red Canyon Wash, and

further east are single-family residences zoned Rural Residential,

which permits one dwelling unit per five acres. The parcel is

1 Richard McCreanor was identified as a plaintiff in the district

court, but is not a party to the appeal.

1 bordered on the west by single-family residences, as is the area

south of Broadway.

¶4 In March 2022, the developer submitted a rezoning application

proposing to convert the property from the existing R-2 zone

district, which allows for two dwelling units per acre, to an R-5 zone

district, which allows multifamily housing units.

¶5 In Grand Junction, when a rezoning is sought, the City’s

planning director is required to review the application and make a

recommendation to the planning commission whether the request

should be approved. Grand Junction Mun. Code §§ 21.02.080,

21.02.140(b) (repealed effective Dec. 20, 2023) (hereinafter

G.J.M.C.).2 The planning commission receives input at a public

hearing. The planning commission then makes a recommendation

to the council. Id.

¶6 The council ultimately decides whether to approve the

rezoning application. Id. If the planning commission recommends

2 We note that since the hearings in this case, section 21.02.140

has been repealed or relocated in the G.J.M.C. The record does not contain copies of the pertinent sections of the Code as it existed in 2022. But the parties’ briefs agree on the substance of the applicable provisions, so we draw our citations to the 2022 Code from their briefs.

2 denial of a rezoning application, the applicant must secure the

votes of at least five of the six councilmembers in order to prevail on

the application. Id. § 21.02.120(e).

¶7 In May 2022, the developer held a virtual meeting to introduce

the rezoning request to the community and answer questions. The

meeting lasted about thirty minutes and was attended by ten

residents. After the meeting, Scott Peterson — a senior planner for

the City — prepared a staff report evaluating the application. The

report recommended approving the rezoning application, concluding

that it was consistent with the vision, goals, and policies of the One

Grand Junction Comprehensive Plan (Plan), and met four out of the

five criteria contained in G.J.M.C. section 21.02.140(a)(1) to (5).

¶8 A number of interested parties provided written comments

prior to the hearing, and members of the public also made

statements at the planning commission meeting. Numerous people

who lived close to the property spoke against the requested

rezoning. Among other concerns, they stated that the housing

density enabled by the proposed rezoning was inconsistent with the

surrounding neighborhoods and would be detrimental to wildlife in

the area, improperly burden the Red Canyon Wash and related

3 wetlands, and compromise the pastoral setting of some of the

surrounding properties. After the hearing, a quorum of the

planning commission voted 4-0 in favor of recommending that the

council deny the application.

¶9 In July, the council scheduled a public meeting to consider the

application. After learning that only five of six councilmembers

were present, the developer requested a continuance of the hearing,

which the council granted.

¶ 10 The hearing took place in August. Over the course of

approximately forty-five minutes, the developer’s engineer, City

staff, and community members addressed the propriety of the

application. Five community members, including one of the

neighbors, requested that the council deny the application. The

neighbors assert that at the hearing the developer and Peterson

used about twice as much time as that used by members of the

public.

¶ 11 Before voting on the application, the mayor made the following

statement and findings:

I just want to remind us exactly what it is we’re deciding here tonight. . . . [T]here are processes in place . . . such as the [Plan] that

4 have gone through the process of making sure that nothing inappropriate is . . . being put next to things. . . . [W]hat we’re here to decide tonight specifically is whether or not the request by the [developer] meets the criteria and the ordinances that are in place and that have been decided and voted on by City Council. And that essentially [is] the law of our city, the law of the land here. And what we’re essentially determining is whether or not the boxes have been checked. . . . We are not here to make an emotional decision. We are here to make a very objective decision, which is pretty black and white. And that’s whether or not [the application] meets the criteria of the Zoning and Development Code and whether or not this meets the [Plan]. And what I heard this evening is that four of the five zoning and development criteria were met or are met by this, and only one has to be met in order for this to move forward. So, the number of criteria does not matter, but I think it’s important to point out that four of five are met here and also four of the [Plan’s] principles are addressed here. To me, this is a pretty cut and dry decision.

I find the boxes are checked and that is . . . that’s our role here. . . . What we’re being asked to determine is whether or not this meets the [Plan] principles and the criteria of Designing and Development Code. And I find that it has been.

The council voted 5-1 to approve the application.

¶ 12 The neighbors sought district court review of the council’s

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