The saga of rezoning property at Peak View Drive and Twin Drive owned by Frank Theis entered a new chapter late last month. That’s when Christy Jacobs and Kristine Poppitz took their argument against the Town Board’s decision to District Court.
In their July 21 filing of a Rule 106 appeal of the town’s June 24 vote to rezone one 4.46-acre parcel zoned Estate into 12 with Single-Family Residential zoning, Jacobs and Poppitz allege the Town Board’s 5-2 decision that makes development of Coyote Run II possible exceeded or abused its jurisdiction or violated the legal standards for rezoning the property.
A Colorado Rule 106 is a legal maneuver allowing individuals to appeal land use decisions made by public officials.
The filing names the Town, all individual trustees, the mayor, Frank Theis and his company, CMS Planning and Development, and Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley as defendants.
Even though court documents show the suit was filed July 21, Theis says he and representatives for Habitat for Humanity were not served with notice of the action until Monday, Aug. 4. According to Kate Miller, the town’s public information officer, the Town does not comment on active litigation.
“We will work cooperatively with the town” to contest the claim, Theis said.
In the meantime, steps required before the actual development of Coyote Run II can occur are underway. Surveyor stakes on the property have been placed as required for the Planning Commission observation. Theis expects the Commission to discuss development plans during its regular meeting Sept. 16.
“I don’t anticipate any delays” in proceeding, Theis said. He said construction could begin in October, but no later than in November.
Home construction adjacent to the site is occurring, with the first home in Coyote Run I nearing completion.
Court records show that Jacobs and Poppitz claim the rezoning for Coyote Run II did not meet review standards or requirements of the Estes Park development code. Instead, the filing claims Estes Park Trustees “based their decision on political, not legal consideration.”
Jacobs and Poppitz are leaders in Preserve Estes Park, a citizen-led community advocacy organization. According to PEP’s website, the group is dedicated to “maintaining and improving the environment, wildlife, and quality of life” in the area.
Nearby residents have long fought the parcel’s rezoning, most recently through PEP, when the Town Board approved the rezoning to make way for developing Coyote Run II, a subdivision that will contain eight Habitat for Humanity houses managed through the co-applicant, David Emerson of Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley.
In 2023, a rezoning application was denied from E-1 to R-1 for the property, plus an adjoining three acres to create 30 single-family lots. A year later, an application to create three one-acre lots on the western portion of that property was approved.
Theis teamed up with Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley for this latest rezoning. Of the 12 lots planned for this development, eight will contain deed-restricted, income-qualifying homes that will be administered through Habitat.
“We believe this is an exceptional opportunity to serve eight families who are likely not in this room, but are serving your community,” said David Emerson, executive director of Habitat, on June 24 when requesting approval of the rezoning issue.
Critics of the rezoning of the Coyote Run II property have said the development is in a wildlife corridor and would obscure sightlines for neighbors, create traffic issues, and not be compatible with neighboring developments. They also claim there was no change of condition in the area that necessitated the rezoning.
Correction, August 12, 2025 4:56 pm: This quote was corrected to provide attribution, “We will work cooperatively with the town” to contest the claim, Theis said. Additionally, a correction was made regarding the size of the lots, from half-acre to one-acre lots.
Correction, August 11, 2025 10:59 am: This article was update to correct the Town Board vote which was 5-2 not 4-2 to approve the rezoning. The article was also updated to correct a misspelling of Frank Theis' last name.
The article by Suzy Blackhurst that appeared on August 6, 2025 in the Estes Valley Voice about the recent filing of a Rule 106 motion is riddled with errors. I will point out a few; there are others.
• The vote of the Town Board on June 24, 2025 about the rezoning of 685 Peak View was not decided by a vote of 4-2. Previous pieces in the EVV got this information correct, but Ms. Blackhurst did not.
• The developer’s name was not spelled consistently or correctly each time.
• The developer never made “an application to create three half-acre lots on the western portion” of the property. After his original application to rezone the entire 7+ acres was unanimously rejected by the Town Board, he separated out 3 lots of one acre each – exactly what the zoning called for.
• Stating that the houses currently under construction are on half-acre lots is misleading and wrong. The houses are on one acre lots. There had been no approval for any smaller lots on that property until the most recent Town Board decision.
I do not know if these errors are a sign of sloppy journalism or if they are a part of a biased attempt to misrepresent the facts.
In either case, the article requires MULTIPLE corrections or total removal from the Estes Valley Voice.
Laura Rustin
I acknowledge the two corrections made by the Estes Valley Voice in this news article.
However, the most egregious error remains in the article. There are no half acre lots in Coyote Run I. The houses currently under construction are on one acre lots.
It does not matter where that incorrect information came from. The article still contains a major error.
Laura Rustin