Eldorado Artesian Springs sues Boulder County over resort permits

BOULDER COUNTY — Eldorado Artesian Springs Inc., a bottled-water company that owns a historic resort property in the tiny Boulder County hamlet of Eldorado Springs, claims in a new lawsuit that county officials are unfairly prohibiting the firm from reopening renovated portions of the resort.

The company, which also owns many of the roads and bridges in the community of about 300 residents, sought and received permission in 2018 to renovate the resort, which was built nearly 120 years ago and includes a ballroom, bath house and swimming pool.

“The renovation was designed to bring the resort into conformance with the Boulder County Land Use Code and to help ensure the continued viability of the resort, both as a business entity and as a unique and historically significant site,” according to the complaint, filed late last week in Boulder County District Court.

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County officials required “Eldorado to develop a long-term plan for ‘improvement of roads leading to the Resort.’ The 2018 resolution further stated that ‘[t]he plan must build off the 2012 Plan,’” the lawsuit said. “The ‘2012 Plan’ referenced in the 2018 resolution was a road plan that had been developed by a county engineer. It was not stamped or otherwise certified to be compliant with engineering standards.”

Eldorado Springs claims that in 2020, the county imposed “additional requirements for the road improvements” and said it and the state would chip in part of the cost “according to a set percentage based on usage.” The company said it has not received any reimbursement, even though its employees make up less than 10% of the traffic on Eldorado Springs’ roadways.

As the company began tackling the improvement projects, “Eldorado’s engineer discovered several things that made it impossible to use the 2012 Plan,” the lawsuit claims. “Multiple modifications to the 2012 Plan were required so that the road would meet safety standards and code requirements. … In other words, Eldorado was saddled with a plan created by the County that was legally impossible to build.”

Last summer, Boulder County issued a stop-work order, accusing Eldorado’s road project of going beyond the scope of its approvals. Eldorado was required to submit new plans for review.

“Finally, after Eldorado incorporated all of the new and changing requirements imposed by the county, the county approved a final road plan and parking plan on May 24, 2024,” the lawsuit said. “… Meanwhile, while the road plans were undergoing modification at the county’s request, Eldorado completed construction of the renovation on the resort.”

Now that the resort renovation is complete, Eldora wants to open it and sought a certificate of occupancy, which Boulder County Chief Building Official Ron Flax, named as a defendant in his official capacity in the lawsuit, refused to issue until the road projects are completed.

“Eldorado Artesian Springs Inc. do not currently have certificates of occupancy for structures at the Eldorado Swimming Pool and Resort because associated road improvement work on Eldorado Springs Drive has not been completed,” a Boulder County spokesperson told BizWest in an email. “Approved road work includes improvements to the travelway and required parking spaces. These improvements are a condition of the county’s approval of the company’s land use application.”

Eldorado argues that previous approvals for the renovation did not include a requirement for completion of the road improvements. 

“Significantly, the road base has been laid, and all that remains is placing a concrete drain pan, adding parking blocks in the designated parking spaces, and some minimal site grading,” the company said in its complaint. 

The lawsuit, which alleges breach of contract among other things, demands that a court issue an injunction to stop Boulder County from requiring completion of the road projects before issuing a certificate of occupancy. It also demands unspecified monetary damages.

The case is Eldorado Artesian Springs Inc. v. Boulder County Board of Commissioners, Ron Flax, case number 2024CV30530, filed June 14 in Boulder County District Court.