Among promises to finish what he helped start during his first term in office, Teller County Commissioner Erik Stone also vowed to preserve the county’s way of life when he is reelected this year to another four years in office.

“We must protect the quality of life and the (lifestyle) that people moved here to enjoy and have grown up here to enjoy,” Stone said.

The Republican is running unopposed this year for a second term representing the county’s third district, which encompasses Woodland Park on Teller’s eastern edge. With no current Republican challengers and no Democrats or third party candidates in the race for the seat, it appears Stone will secure his party’s nomination in the June 25 primary election and will win the seat in the Nov. 5 general election. He was first elected to serve Teller’s District 3 in 2020.

Unaffiliated voters in El Paso County claim the majority

Teller County has felt the effects of statewide laws that don’t always apply to its rural way of life, he said. For example, Gov. Jared Polis last month signed legislation banning residential occupancy limits for unrelated people, as long as local building and fire codes and health and safety standards are met.

But rural Colorado counties, like Teller, live on septic systems that cannot support too many people living in one household, Stone said. Septic systems are built based on the average number of people expected to live in a home.

“You then find yourself with public health problems,” he said.

He and others were able to talk to the bill’s sponsors, which included state Sen. Tony Exum of the El Paso County-based District 11, to include concessions in the bill for leaders of more rural counties like Teller to continue limiting residential occupancy based on the size of a home and its septic system.

He also promised to continue work he started four years ago during his first term, including keeping property taxes low and responding to community need.

For example, Stone said he will continue work building a central service center in Divide that includes both satellite and permanent offices for services like the Sheriff’s Office, Public Health, Department of Human Services, the planning department, veteran’s service center and others.

El Paso County clerk and recorder begins testing of voting equipment

Many county offices are scattered throughout Teller, he said, which encompasses about 560 square miles of the western slope of Pikes Peak. Many of the offices are in rented spaces, as well.

The way the offices are spaced out means residents could drive as much as 40 minutes one way for one service, which “is not conducive to providing effective service for our residents,” Stone said.

The three-person Board of Teller County Commissioners envisions the centrally located center as a “one-stop shop” to help solve that issue, he said.

Stone said he will also continue work to expand the Teller County wastewater treatment facility in Divide. At capacity, county leaders have been working to get the appropriate permits to expand the facility and support growth in Teller County.

Not only would it support the new service center the commissioners want to build there, but it will also support new residents who move to Divide, which has been identified as the county’s primary growth area, he said.

Developers will be able to build in the area they previously could not develop because it did not have adequate wastewater infrastructure, Stone said.

“That’s key to everything in that growth area of Teller County,” Stone said.

Building new single-family homes in Divide will also add needed housing supply, particularly for many county employees who cannot live in Teller County because they cannot find affordable housing, he said.

More than half of Teller’s land is government-owned and cannot be built upon; much of the remaining land is limited by infrastructure, he said.

“It’s not the role of government to decide what to build, but … I think it’s the responsibility of the government … to ensure there’s adequate capacity for growth to happen in areas where it’s supposed to happen,” Stone said.