Douglas County Planning Commission Approves Zebulon Grading, Infrastructure for Sports Complex, EVOC

A major step toward the Zebulon Regional Sports Complex and the county Emergency Vehicle Operations Center came when the Douglas County Planning Commission approved a Location & Extent request that allows site-wide grading and installation of drainage, water and sewer lines, utilities and roadway improvements near Moore and Waterton Roads. The vote clears initial technical hurdles for construction work in northwest Douglas County and signals movement from planning to design and permitting.

The approval, made by the commission on Feb. 2 and posted by county news on Feb. 3, applies to grading across the site and utility corridors intended to support both the Zebulon project and EVOC-related facilities. County materials describe the Zebulon parcel as roughly 45 to 46 acres, with source documents alternating between a 45-acre figure tied to a 2025 land swap with Sterling Ranch and a 46-acre description in county news. The land exchange in 2025 is credited with making the Zebulon site possible; Sterling Ranch reportedly transferred acreage to the county in return for about 24 acres nearby.

The property has an industrial past. The parcel was part of a DuPont/Chemours dynamite manufacturing facility that closed in 1989 and underwent remediation. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved site closure in 2022 and established a Notice of Environmental Use Restrictions. That notice, as reported by state regulators, prohibits digging, drilling, tilling, grading, excavation, use as an athletic field and vehicular traffic on parts of the property. County planners and legal staff will need to reconcile those restrictions with the commission’s site-wide grading approval as the design team refines locations and engineering solutions.

Funding and early design work are already in motion. The Board of County Commissioners approved a consent agenda on July 22 that included a $410,000 phase-1 civil and site design contract to evaluate buildability, cost drivers and development options. “The $410,000 item on the consent agenda [was] characterized as the phase‑1 civil/site design contract to evaluate buildability, cost drivers and development options; they said more public outreach and town halls would follow once conceptual designs become more concrete.” County leaders say the Zebulon program is intended to deliver ice rinks, basketball, volleyball and pickleball courts, a sports dome, outdoor soccer, baseball and softball fields, and open space funded in part by the 2022 ballot measure that authorized $330 million for parks, open space and historic resources.

Public reaction has been mixed. “This is a historic delivery of the highest amount of recreational and sports resources that our county has ever seen,” Commissioner Abe Laydon said at a public meeting. Opponents voiced economic and transparency concerns; “This is a sweetheart deal for the Sterling Ranch developer, and it's not a good deal for Douglas County,” Democratic state Rep. Bob Marshall said. Youth supporters were on hand as well. “I heard we're gonna have our own field to practice on. It's gonna be a lot closer to my house,” nine-year-old Slammers player Dean Lafitte said. “We don't have to drive as far, and I don't get bored on the drive, and that doesn't continue into practice.” The vote followed a lengthy public comment period in which residents raised concerns about transparency, environmental risks, funding, and the project’s fit with the county’s open‑space priorities.

What happens next is largely procedural: additional Location & Extent applications will be required as planners specify EVOC components and Zebulon facilities, county staff will complete phase-1 design work, and more public outreach and town halls are expected. For neighbors, the approval means construction activity, grading trucks and utility work could begin in coming months in parts of northwest Douglas County while environmental restrictions and precise site boundaries are sorted out.