Flying Saucer RV Park Residents Worry Their Housing Is About to Take Off

The Flying Saucer RV Park in Sheridan, a town of 6,100 people just south of Denver, is preparing to take off...but some residents won't go without a fight.

The 162-space motorhome park, a riverside property where more than half the residents live year-round, is slated to be leveled and replaced with a seven-building, 362-unit apartment complex.

According to longtime resident Steve Ohlfert, who's leading the opposition to the development plan, most of his neighbors agree that the Whipple family that opened the park in 1949 has the right to sell the property. But they'd prefer the new owner keep it an RV park, and not turn it into apartments.

The Garrett Companies, which is based in Greenwood, Indiana, has entered into an agreement to purchase the property. However, the site isn't zoned for apartment buildings, so the Garrett Companies submitted a rezoning application to the City of Sheridan on June 26. The deal is contingent on Sheridan's Planning Commission approving the developer's zoning request, according to a spokesperson for the Garrett Companies; that application is still under review.

The RV park lies along Bear Creek, near its confluence with the South Platte River. It's a grassy setting with old tree growth that would certainly make for attractive apartment living — but rents would be far above the $600 to $700 that Ohlfert says most RV-based residents currently pay.

Ohlfert has been a resident of Flying Saucer since April 2005. He and his wife originally parked a fifth-wheel RV on the site, but they've lived in a tiny house on the grounds since 2021.

Few RV parks in metro Denver allow year-round RVers (we found two in Golden, one in Wheat Ridge), and municipalities generally do not allow them to park on streets more more than a few days. Many of the Flying Saucer residents living full-time in their motorhomes or fifth-wheels are senior citizens on limited incomes, according to Ohlfert.  "I don't know where we would go," he says, "and, of course, a lot of the other RV owners don't know where they would go, either."

Once the application review is complete, the matter will be scheduled for a public hearing before the Planning Commission; if it passes, it will be submitted to the Sheridan City Council, which will hold another public hearing before a vote. Flying Saucer residents hope to plead their case before both groups, but there are currently no scheduled hearings.

Residents opposing the development face a unique governmental construct: In zoning matters, city councilors are charged with performing as judges rather than legislators. While legislators can hear from stakeholders and be open to a variety of inputs throughout their day, under this quasi-judicial process Sheridan councilmembers cannot hear any relevant information prior to the public hearing.

Ohlfert says he was discouraged from speaking with both Sheridan's planning commission and council; as a result, he feels that only the owners and the purchasers are being heard.

"Our company and the seller have committed to continue to update the tenants on the overall timeline of the new project so they have the time they need to make plans," a spokesperson for the Garrett Companies says.

The registered agent for Flying Saucer Mobile Park, Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.