Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

The Mesa County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing March 10 on an appeal involving a previously approved solar project near Palisade. It’s a case residents say could influence how fire-protection requirements are applied to future industrial development outside established fire districts.

The appeal concerns administrative decision PRO2025-0203 for Pivot Solar 49 LLC and Pivot Solar 69 LLC at 566 38 Road. The Sobre el Rio Homeowners Association filed the appeal Dec. 9, 2025, challenging the county’s interpretation of Land Development Code Section 8.10, which governs fire-protection requirements.

The appeal focuses on whether Mesa County properly applied Section 8.10 in approving the site plan. Specifically, the HOA argues that because the project is located outside a fire-protection district, the code requires annexation into a district or a formal service agreement, and reliance on mutual-aid agreements does not satisfy that requirement. The appeal asks commissioners to uphold the code as written and to remove the County Attorney’s Fire Service Letter from the project record.

The HOA contends allowing mutual-aid agreements to substitute for annexation or a formal service agreement conflicts with the language of the Land Development Code.

A separate advocacy document, titled Playing with Fire: Pivot Energy in Mesa County, references a Colorado Open Records Act request and cites an internal email from a Pivot executive describing the mutual-aid interpretation as an “elegant solution” that could unlock future development opportunities.

The appeal letter also references statements attributed to Palisade Fire Chief Charles Balkey expressing concern about staffing and equipment capacity for responding to an industrial-scale fire outside the department’s district boundaries.

In addition, the appeal notes Pivot secured land leases for additional proposed projects near the 38 Road site and asserts some of those parcels are also located outside established fire districts.

Public hearing

The hearing is scheduled for March 10, 9 a.m., at the Old Mesa County Courthouse, 544 Rood Ave. in Grand Junction. Members of the public may attend and provide comment during the meeting or submit written comments to the Board of County Commissioners in advance.