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The Eagle County Board of Commissioners will hold a hearing on changes to the Edwards River Park plan on Monday, July 14. The hearing will begin at 4 p.m. in the Eagle County Room in the county building in Eagle.

This is the third hearing the commissioners have set for the revised project. The first, held in May, was dedicated to staff and applicant presentations. The second, held June 18, was dedicated to more than two hours of public comment. The public also provided nearly 400 pages of written comments for that hearing.

This meeting, scheduled for three hours, is set for questions from and deliberation by the commissioners. The commissioners had plenty of questions following the June meeting.

Those questions are regarding a series of revisions to a plan first approved in 2021, at the site of a former gravel mine about a mile west of the roundabout along U.S. Highway 6 in Edwards. That property was put up for sale in the summer of 2022 following the 2020 death of lead project partner Don MacKenzie.

The project was put under contract in 2024 by Aptitude Development. That firm kept the basics of the plan. The total unit count is the same, as is the number of deed-restricted and price-capped units. The project will also retain the project’s previously approved open space, trails, parking requirements and stream setbacks. The developers will also build a previously required roundabout on U.S. Highway 6.

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But the new plan eliminates the previous plan’s retail space, and instead uses that space for a new, 10,000 square-foot home for the Family Learning Center. The developers have agreed to lease space to the child care facility for $1 per year, and the facility’s current landlord, the St. Clare of Assisi School and Parish, has agreed to keep the Family Learning Center in place until the new facility is ready.

After those first hearings, the commissioners appear to have plenty of questions for the developers about the plan’s revisions.

Among other things, Scherr has questioned the height of buildings in the revised plan and how those heights were determined.

Commissioner Tom Boyd said in June he’s also going to want to know about building height and density among buildings, as well as how people are going to get around within the development, particularly regarding walkability, since some of the parking has been moved around between buildings.

Summing up the June 18 meeting, Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney noted that many of the questions will come down to sidewalks, parking, building heights and public benefits.

McQueeney noted that Monday’s meeting won’t include public comment unless the development team makes “significant changes” to the current plan.

The plan can be viewed on the of the county’s website.