While county residents and officials are debating future land uses and zoning issues as part of amended development standards and regulations, one property in Ralston with a few businesses on it just received a new zoning designation. 

A property on Ralston’s Main Street owned by Chris Pelletier was rezoned to commercial from transitional zoning in June after Park County commissioners approved a special use permit for a grooming business on the property. 

The property had been in the transitional zoning area, which requires a public hearing for a new business. Going forward, if one of the businesses on the property changes, it will only require a permit. 

“So this is actually, in my mind, an improvement for that area,” Commissioner Kelly Simone said. “To rezone will make it less hoops to jump through.”

The smooth process Tuesday morning was in contrast to the last time the lot was discussed at a commissioners meeting, when Pelletier had argued in late 2023 against penalties for operating too many businesses, one of which was Countryside Grooming, on his property. 

During that debate, Pelletier was urged to begin the process to be able to have his property moved from transitional to commercial zoning as a way to resolve future issues. 

County Planning Director Joy Hill said at the time it’s unclear why the area was originally put in transitional zoning.

Concerns were also raised at the time about the efficacy of the septic system on the property. Pelletier said before he owned the Main Street property it held a gas station and laundromat, which led a couple commissioners to figure the septic system should have no problems handling a pet grooming business.

Since then that issue has been resolved, and planner Jenny Cramer said Pelletier was on board with the rezoning. 

The townsite of Ralston was originally planned to be a more bustling place than it has become, complete with small, town-sized lots in an area that doesn't have public infrastructure. That has led to wells and septic systems being close together in come situations, a scenario Hill has previously mentioned. She even hosted a meeting during the land use planning process for Ralston residents to give them advice on how to develop public infrastructure that would enable the town to grow more, but most residents who showed up said they liked Ralston the way it was.