Pomeroy Lodging, the proposed buyer of the Homestead property continues to move forward in their efforts to gain approval by Douglas County Commissioners to rezone the property to Commercial from Residential so that they can build a Nordic Spa inside the beautiful red rocks.  (If you are interested in their current rendition of this invasive development, click here.) If you have not already sent in your letters/email urging the commissioners to Vote NO, please do so soon.  Details on what to do are located on our website here.

 SaveOurRox (SOR) volunteers have also been busy in our efforts to stop this development:

1.       Douglas County Commissioners

In June and July meetings were held with each of the Douglas County Commissioners: Abe Laydon, George Teal and Lora Thomas. In attendance at each of those meetings were representatives from SOR; Brian Lence, GM Roxborough Park Foundation (absent for Teal meeting due to illness); Kenny Windey, Director of Operations Arrowhead Golf Course (AGC) and Charles Packard, GM of AGC. The intention was to voice our collective strong opposition to changing the zoning on the Homestead property from residential to commercial.  All commissioners listened and asked good questions but also stated that until a formal application was made by Pomeroy, they will withhold making any decisions on zoning. They have also been reading all the letters sent into each of them by Roxborough residents and concerned citizens. County staff have indicated that a formal application is expected “soon”.

To date 152 letters have been sent to commissions urging them to Vote NO.  We can do better; show that you care and write a letter.

2.       Arcis Golf, Senior Management

On August 3, 2022, Arcis Golf (corporate parent of Arrowhead Golf Course) officially informed Pomeroy and our Roxborough Park Foundation (RPF) General Manager they are opposed to the development.  This is very important to all of us as Arcis is a large corporation and their objections will be taken seriously by the county. Arcis senior management had not been aware of the proposed development until they were contacted by volunteers from Save Our Rox.

 3.       Roxborough Park Foundation Board Unanimously Opposes the Spa

Brian Lence, General Manager for Roxborough Park Foundation wrote in his June 29th, 2022 “Association News, Homestead-Update” that “the Board has already signified its unanimous opposition to this project as it feels it is contrary to the best interests of the Foundation members as a whole.”

 4.       Pomeroy “Focus Group” Meeting
In late June, Marcus Pachner (Public Relations for Pomeroy) and Ryan Pomeroy held a “Focus Group” meeting. There were 13 RPF residents in attendance, including Save Our Rox volunteers. It was unclear how the attendees were chosen.

Ryan Pomeroy informed the group that Pomeroy was “totally” under contract on both sides of the parcel. (This would mean the entire Homestead property.) Ryan continued by saying that they are trying to minimize the footprint on the property and were going to “take away development rights on the west side” perhaps by simply donating it so it could never be developed.  

Marcus and Ryan repeatedly talked about Pomeroy’s desire to “mitigate” concerns from the neighborhood. One suggestion they proposed was to put gates on the roads attached to Sundown Trail to prevent spa customers from entering those streets. Those neighbors responded by saying that felt like they were being “blockaded”. Another Pomeroy proposed solution was to put a gate on Roxborough Dr going north from Sundown Trail preventing unwanted non-residential traffic in the neighborhood. Again, the neighbors in the Sundown Trail area objected saying that did not protect their homes. Importantly, none of the Pomeroy solutions would reduce the amount of traffic entering the neighborhood nor the bottleneck at the entrance and exit.

Pomeroy offered a “donation” to help offset the traffic wear and effect on RPF roads. (Note that this would likely be a required payment by the Foundation if the spa were to be approved so the “donation” would not be voluntary.)

The meeting concluded with Marcus reiterating that they would like to have more meetings like this and include people who are for and against the development including Save Our Rox.

 5.       Save Our Rox Website
SOR has made several updates to the website with detailed information about conservation easements, maps, and action items. If you haven’t visited the website recently,  check it out here.  

As of 8/1/2022, our petition statistics include:

·         406 confirmed homeowner lots (of approximately 1056 lots) have signed our petition 

·         584 homeowner signatures

·         771 total signatures 

6.       Go Fund Me
The GoFundMe page has been up since last Fall and to date:

·   44 donations

·   $6,500 raised

·   -$2,085 web expenses

·   -$1,758 marketing expenses (yard signs, window decals)

·   -$228 GoFundMe expenses

·   $2,429 net

All funds are kept in a SOR checking account. If you would like to contribute to help us continue our marketing efforts, go to GoFundMe.

7.       Contact with the homeowner

Earlier this summer, we hand delivered a Conservation Easement document to the current homeowners. Their realtor informed us that if the current contract does not go through, the homeowners would be open to discussions regarding the Conservation Easement.

8.       Next Steps

Pomeroy is expected to file a Completed Application sometime in the next few weeks. If you are interested in how the Douglas County Rezoning Process works, a guide can be found here. Also, if you wish to follow new developments, letters sent to the County, formal applications etc. you can access that by following this link. Scroll down to “Documents” and you will find all current documents, letters, etc that have been added to this file by the County. The most important thing you can do is: “WRITE A LETTER TO OPPOSE THIS ZONING CHANGE”.

9.       Homeowner Actions

1. Volunteer Job Opening - Fundraising Leader - Assuming Pomeroy is defeated, SOR will be looking for ways to purchase this land. Potentially that would mean a fund-raising campaign. We are looking for an experienced fund-raiser and a real estate broker with experience in creative financing. Please contact: Saveourrox2@gmail.com if you or someone you know would be interested in assisting us.

2. Send in your letters/emails to commissioners. Details on what to do are located on our website here.

3. Attend Thursday’s RPF Board Meeting, August 18, at 7pm, if you are a resident.

In conclusion, we at SOR believe that there is a strong likelihood that we will be successful in fighting the rezoning of the property and this developer will go away. However, our work is not done.  The homeowner will continue to try to monetize their property, which is their right. We are currently working on ways to save this land in perpetuity including possibly buying it through fund-raising. If you, or someone you know, is experienced in raising money for a non-profit, please let us know.

Thank you again for your continued support. We have known that this will be a journey and we need the support of many. 

Save Our Rox Steering Committee