Douglas County is growing, and that growth brings both opportunity and responsibility.

New homes, businesses and community investments can expand opportunity and strengthen the local economy. But growth should not come at the expense of water security, public safety, infrastructure, open space, wildlife or the character of existing communities.

County government should not simply ask whether development is legally possible. It should ask whether a proposal fits the community, whether infrastructure can support it, who will bear the costs and whether residents have had a meaningful voice before the decision is made.

My standard is simple:

Growth should fit the community. Infrastructure should come first. Developers should pay their fair share. Residents should have a real voice before decisions are made.

Put infrastructure first

Development decisions are inseparable from roads, water, emergency access, schools and public services. Approving new growth without adequate infrastructure does not eliminate the cost. It shifts that cost onto existing residents, taxpayers and public agencies.

Before major development is approved, county leaders should understand:

• Whether roads and intersections can handle additional traffic

• Whether residents and first responders will have safe access during an emergency

• Whether evacuation routes are sufficient

• Whether water supplies are reliable and sustainable

• Whether fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical services can meet additional demand

• Whether drainage, utilities and other systems are adequate

• What new operating and maintenance costs the county will assume

• What infrastructure the developer will provide or help fund

Infrastructure promises should be specific, enforceable and tied to clear timelines. Residents should not be told that roads, emergency access or other essential improvements will be addressed sometime after thousands of new homes are occupied.

The infrastructure needed to support growth should be planned, funded and delivered before the community is placed under additional strain.

Protect water for the long term

From every corner of the county, I hear residents' concerns about water. Water is one of the defining challenges facing Douglas County.

Every major development decision should include an honest assessment of where the water will come from, how dependable that supply will be over time and what effect the project could have on current residents, agriculture and future generations.

A technically permissible water plan is not automatically a responsible one.

I support:

• Transparent water supply analyses for major projects

• Long-term planning based on realistic growth and climate conditions

• Conservation and water-efficient development

• Reuse and other responsible strategies that reduce pressure on limited supplies

• Clear public disclosure of water rights, infrastructure needs and financial risks

• Regional cooperation where it serves Douglas County residents

• Protection of rural wells, agricultural users and existing communities

Water commitments should be based on evidence, not optimism. We should not approve development first and hope that a sustainable water solution appears later.

Make developers pay their fair share

Growth creates demand for roads, intersections, emergency services, drainage systems, parks and other public infrastructure.

The public should not be forced to subsidize private development while developers receive the financial benefit. Douglas County should use lawful and transparent tools to ensure new projects contribute appropriately to the infrastructure, community needs, and services they require.

That includes:

• Development impact fees based on current costs and actual demand

• Enforceable infrastructure agreements

• Fair contributions toward road, sidewalk, and intersection improvements

• Adequate funding for drainage, utilities and emergency access

• Clear responsibility for maintenance and long-term costs

• Regular review of whether fees remain sufficient as costs change

Developer contributions must be legally sound, predictable and connected to the impacts of the project. These kinds of responsible standards are not anti-growth. They help ensure that growth pays for growth rather than leaving existing residents with the bill.

Respect the character of each community

Douglas County is not one uniform place.

Castle Rock, Parker, Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch, Roxborough, Sterling Ranch, Franktown, Sedalia, Larkspur and the county’s rural areas each have different histories, landscapes, infrastructure and community expectations.

Franktown, for example, is a rural community characterized by larger lots and a distinct development pattern. A proposal that might fit one part of Douglas County may be fundamentally incompatible with another.

County land-use and zoning decisions should consider:

• Existing community character

• Existing infrastructure

• Density and building scale

• Rural and agricultural uses

• Traffic and road capacity

• Wildfire and evacuation risks

• Water availability

• Wildlife corridors and environmental impacts

• Compatibility with nearby neighborhoods

• The community’s adopted plans and expectations

Preserving community character does not mean freezing Douglas County in place. It means recognizing that thoughtful growth should respond to the place where it occurs rather than forcing every community into the same development model.

Give residents a meaningful voice before decisions are made

Public participation should shape development decisions, not merely document public frustration after the outcome has effectively been determined. Residents deserve early notice, accessible information and a genuine opportunity to influence proposals before commissioners vote.

I will support:

• An earlier and more diversified process for public notice for major development applications

• Clear summaries written in plain language

• Complete application materials and technical studies posted online

• Public meetings held at times residents can reasonably attend

• Advance engagement within the communities most directly affected

• Adequate time to review studies before hearings

• Clear explanations of how public feedback influenced the final decision

• Transparent disclosure of changes negotiated between applicants and county staff

A public hearing should not be the first meaningful opportunity residents have to understand a project. Engagement should begin early enough to matter.

Oppose backdoor development and jurisdiction shopping

Communities deserve development processes that are transparent and accountable.

Annexations and jurisdictional boundaries should not be manipulated to bypass the residents, infrastructure standards or public processes most affected by a project. While technically legal, so-called flagpole annexations can connect distant land to a municipality through a narrow strip of territory, even when the project’s greatest effects may fall on residents outside that municipality. The County has an obligation to be an honest broker between municipal projects and county residents.

I oppose development strategies that use technical boundaries to evade meaningful accountability, especially when residents are excluded from the process.

County leaders should:

• Closely evaluate unusual or disconnected annexations

• Consider impacts on county roads, emergency services and neighboring communities

• Coordinate with municipalities before problems become conflicts

• Advocate for residents whose communities bear the consequences

• Support policies that discourage jurisdiction shopping

• Require transparent agreements about infrastructure and service responsibilities

The government approving a project should not be allowed to collect the benefit while shifting the consequences onto someone else’s residents.

Protect wildlife, open space and natural resources

Douglas County residents have made their priorities clear.

In the county’s 2024 survey on parks, trails and open space, residents chose open-space preservation over additional active parks by more than a two-to-one margin. Nearly 80% said they regularly or occasionally use Douglas County’s parks, trails, historic resources or open spaces. Parks and trails have also consistently received some of the highest satisfaction ratings of any county service.

Those results reflect something deeper than satisfaction with a public amenity. Residents understand that Douglas County’s natural landscapes are central to its identity and quality of life. Our open spaces, wildlife habitat, waterways, agricultural lands and scenic landscapes are not vacant land waiting to be developed. They protect water and air quality, reduce flood and wildfire risks, support wildlife and rural livelihoods, provide recreation and preserve the character that draws people to Douglas County in the first place.

Once sensitive habitat or an important wildlife corridor is fragmented by development, it may never be restored.

I will support stronger protections for:

• Wildlife habitat and migration corridors

• Rivers, streams, wetlands and watersheds

• Open-space and trail connectivity

• Agricultural land and rural livelihoods

• Native vegetation and environmentally sensitive areas

• Scenic and historic resources

• Natural systems that reduce flooding and wildfire risk

Development proposals should include credible, independent analysis of their effects on wildlife and natural resources before approval. Not after construction has begun. Avoiding harm should be the first priority. When impacts cannot be avoided, developers should be required to minimize and meaningfully mitigate them.

Some areas are simply too environmentally important, too hazardous or too difficult to replace to be appropriate for intensive development.

The county must also consider cumulative effects. One development may appear manageable in isolation while a series of projects gradually destroys habitat, strains water systems or closes an important wildlife corridor.

More than 87% of Douglas County voters approved extending the dedicated parks, trails, historic resources and open-space sales tax in 2022. That overwhelming support creates an obligation to use those funds consistently with the preservation priorities voters endorsed—not simply as a source of money for large recreational construction projects.

Protecting open space and wildlife is not an obstacle to responsible growth. It is a clear public priority and part of our responsibility to future generations.

Stop approving large-scale data centers until Douglas County has enforceable standards

Douglas County should enact a moratorium on new large-scale data center approvals.

Not a study period without consequences. Not voluntary guidance. A formal pause on approvals until the county adopts clear, enforceable standards that protect residents, infrastructure, water and natural resources.

Large-scale data centers can demand enormous amounts of electricity and water, require major utility and emergency-response infrastructure, generate persistent noise, rely on backup generators, and create long-term impacts on nearby communities. Those costs can be significant even when the number of permanent local jobs is relatively small. And rightfully so, residents are concerned about the impact nearby data centers may have on property values, health, and quality of life.

Douglas County should not approve facilities with decades-long consequences while relying on outdated policies or evaluating each proposal in isolation.

Without a countywide framework, applicants set the terms, residents are forced to organize project by project and commissioners make decisions without consistent standards. That is not responsible planning.

During the moratorium, Douglas County should adopt enforceable requirements addressing:

• Water use, supply reliability and conservation

• Electrical demand, grid capacity and infrastructure costs

• Backup generators, emissions and air quality

• Fire risk, hazardous materials and emergency-response capacity

• Noise, lighting and proximity to homes, schools and sensitive areas

• Road, traffic and construction impacts

• Wildlife habitat, migration corridors and environmental effects

• Permanent local employment and workforce benefits

• Tax revenue, incentives and costs imposed on the public

• Data security and coordination with public-safety agencies

• Decommissioning, site restoration and long-term financial responsibility

Applicants should be required to fund credible independent studies. Those studies should be publicly available well before any hearing, and residents should have a meaningful opportunity to challenge assumptions and respond to the findings.

The county should also establish firm location and resource thresholds. Some proposals may be too close to neighborhoods, too demanding of limited water supplies, too disruptive to wildlife or too costly for existing infrastructure to justify approval.

In those cases, the answer should be no.

Economic development should create durable benefits for the community—not simply offer short-term revenue while shifting long-term risk to residents and taxpayers.

Until Douglas County has strong, enforceable protections in place, no new large-scale data center should be approved.

Coordinate growth across jurisdictions

Development decisions do not stop at municipal boundaries.

A project approved in one jurisdiction may affect traffic, emergency response, water systems, schools or neighborhoods somewhere else.

Douglas County should work more effectively as an honest broker with municipalities, special districts, the school district, fire districts, and regional agencies to understand cumulative impacts and avoid fragmented planning.

That means:

• Sharing reliable growth and infrastructure projections

• Coordinating road and transportation planning

• Aligning emergency and evacuation planning

• Understanding regional water demands

• Identifying where schools and public facilities will be needed

• Clarifying which government is responsible for each cost and service

• Engaging affected communities across jurisdictional lines

Regional cooperation should not mean surrendering local accountability. It should mean collaborating to solve interconnected problems before residents are left dealing with the consequences.

Use development agreements transparently

Development agreements can be useful tools for defining responsibilities, infrastructure commitments and project timelines. For these agreements to be successful, however, they should be negotiated in public view.

I support:

• Public disclosure of proposed development agreements

• Clear explanations of financial terms and public obligations

• Sufficient time for public review

• Independent legal and financial analysis when warranted

• Enforceable deadlines and performance requirements

• Transparency about amendments and negotiated changes

• Consistent standards across applicants

Public officials should be able to explain clearly what the county is receiving, what it is committing and why the agreement serves the public interest.

My commitments

As Douglas County Commissioner, I will work to:

• Require infrastructure planning before major growth is approved

• Protect safe access and evacuation capacity

• Demand credible, long-term water plans

• Ensure developers pay their fair share of growth-related costs

• Respect the distinct character of rural, suburban and municipal communities

• Give residents an earlier and more meaningful role in land-use decisions

• Scrutinize flagpole annexations and jurisdiction shopping

• Honor voters’ clear preference for open-space and natural-resource preservation

• Protect wildlife habitat, migration corridors, watersheds and environmentally sensitive land

• Use dedicated open-space funding consistently with the purpose voters approved

• Evaluate the cumulative environmental effects of development

• Require avoidance and meaningful mitigation of harm to natural resources

• Enact a moratorium on new large-scale data-center approvals

• Approve no new large-scale data centers until enforceable countywide standards are adopted

• Require independent analysis of water, energy, infrastructure, environmental and fiscal impacts

• Establish firm siting, resource-use and neighborhood-protection standards

• Reject projects whose costs and risks outweigh their long-term community benefit

• Require developers to bear the full cost of infrastructure, mitigation and decommissioning

• Guarantee meaningful public review before any future data-center application is considered

• Improve coordination across governments and service districts

• Make development agreements transparent and enforceable

• Evaluate projects based on long-term community benefit—not short-term political pressure

Thoughtful growth protects what people love while preparing for what comes next

Douglas County will continue to change. The question is not whether growth happens. The question is whether county leaders manage it responsibly. We can welcome new neighbors and economic opportunity while protecting water, infrastructure, public safety, open space, wildlife and community character. We can approve good projects without accepting every project. And we can make decisions with residents rather than presenting them with a finished outcome after the important choices have already been made.

My goal is growth that strengthens Douglas County today without compromising the future we leave to the next generation.