Plans to transform 350 acres of agricultural land northwest of Peyton into a residential subdivision are closer to reality after the Board of El Paso County Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a developer’s request to rezone the property.

The new land designation paves the way for Monument-based developer PT Overlook to transform the land half a mile north of Elbert and Sweet roads, and half a mile south of Elbert and Hopper roads, into the Overlook at Homestead, a new residential subdivision made up of 62 single-family lots.

Each lot would be at least 5 acres large, per the approved zoning requirements, city staff and a developer’s representative said.

The subject property is adjacent to the Apex Ranch Estates, the Reata subdivision and Homestead Ranch Regional Park.

Neighbors who objected to the rezoning request during a previous El Paso County Planning Commission meeting in early December worried the size of the planned single-family lots would not be compatible with surrounding land uses, said Andrea Barlow with developer consultant N.E.S. Inc.

The lot sizes are “pretty comparable” with surrounding uses to the northwest and south of the site, she said.

The Apex Ranch Estates that abuts the subject property includes lots ranging in size from 3.1 acres to 9.64 acres, with an average of slightly less than 5 acres, she said.

“Our opinion is providing a 5-acre lot subdivision is very compatible with that adjacent development,” as well as existing zoning south of the site that requires lots to be at least 5 acres large, Barlow told the board.

William Pickles, who owns a parcel of land east of the proposed project site, said he did not object to plans to develop Overlook at Homestead but worried about water availability in a part of the county he said was beleaguered by lack of sufficient water.

“It’s just a very difficult place to have water,” he said, adding that he and neighbors in the Reata subdivision have had to drill wells ranging from 600 feet to 1,200 feet into the ground for water.

“If anyone thinks they’re going to buy a 5-acre parcel and have a pastoral life with a green lawn there, they really need to rethink it, unless the builder has an alternative water source.”

Pickles said insufficient amounts of water will affect new homebuyers as well as residents living in the area.

Barlow said at this point in the development stage a finding of water sufficiency is not required to approve a land rezoning.

She said the developer is working on water sufficiency with the state and hopes to have an augmentation plan approved in February.

The developer plans to provide water via wells, rather than by a water district, she said.

“Obviously, we do have water rights and are working on that,” she said.

Developers will address water during a future preliminary plan hearing before the Board of County Commissioners, she said.

This map shows the proposed site of the Overlook at Homestead subdivision planned northwest of Peyton in El Paso County, adjacent to the Apex Ranch Estates, the Reata subdivision and Homestead Ranch Regional Park.

Courtesy of El Paso County