EL JEBEL — The Eagle County Commissioners sent a strong message Tuesday that they don’t support a proposed subdivision in Emma, forcing the developer to take evasive action.

“We all spoke very strongly against it,” said Commissioner Peter Runyon. “It is inconsistent with the Emma area.”

Commissioners Sara Fisher and Arn Menconi also expressed concerns, according to Runyon.

The Coleman Ranch proposal called for eight residences at 2701 Emma Road. The property sits on the border of Eagle and Pitkin counties, with 18 acres in Eagle County and six acres in Pitkin County. All the residences were proposed in Eagle County.

The planned unit development sought by the applicant required an increase in the zoning of the property. Runyon said he wasn’t willing to approve that. Mistakes were made in the past by allowing upzonings, he said, but that doesn’t justify repeating the mistakes.

The commissioners held a hearing on the proposal at the Eagle County Community Center in El Jebel. However, they weren’t allowed to take a formal vote away from the county seat in Eagle for legal reasons. The commissioners often hold meetings in El Jebel on development proposals in the Roaring Fork Valley portion of the county.

Runyon said the developer of Coleman Ranch asked for 60 days to rework the project and talk to neighboring property owners, many of whom opposed the project. The county planning staff will determine if the changes in the application are major enough to warrant the proposal going back before the Roaring Fork Planning Commission for review. That advisory board recommended denial of the current application.