Jim Candelaria received two items of good news on Tuesday night.

In addition to winning the election for Montezuma County Board of Commissioners, the Cortez Planning and Zoning Commission recommended for approval an application Candelaria Construction submitted to subdivide a 2.6-acre industrial property north of Cortez.

In an interview on Tuesday, Candelaria, a general contractor, said he believes in planning. He said he’s slowly transferring the responsibilities of Candelaria Construction onto his son.

The industrial subdivision would divide the 2.6-acre property near the intersection of County Road L and County Road 26 into four tracts.

Two businesses currently occupy two of those tracts, and the other two will be made available to other businesses, if the desire arises.

“It’s for future expansion and growth if it shows up,” Candelaria said.

The land sits outside of Cortez city limits but is within the city’s 3-mile urban influence zone, so the Cortez Planning and Zoning Commission is required to determine whether the project conforms to the city’s master streets plan, according to city associate planner Neva Connolly.

“Our authority really extends to whether or not these projects in the one and 3-mile area conform to our master street plan,” Connolly said.

The Cortez Planning and Zoning Commission can only make a recommendation, however, and the final authority rests with county commissioners.

Candelaria will take office in January, but the existing Board of County Commissioners will vote on Candelaria’s application for a planned unit development and industrial rezone on Nov. 19.

sdolan@the-journal.com