Douglas County is moving forward on a controversial sports mega complex in Sterling Ranch.

On Tuesday, commissioners voted to approve a $410,000 contract for a consultant to begin early plans for the facility.

The CBS Colorado helicopter flew over the construction area of the future site approved for the Zebulon mega sports complex in the Sterling Ranch community of Douglas County Tuesday, July 23, 2025. CBS

CBS Colorado has previously reported about the original proposal, as well as the need for more youth sports facilities in the growing county.

Douglas County has a sales tax that benefits parks, trails and open spaces. The county projects that fund will have $22.7 million in it by the end of the year.

In 2025, the county asked residents how they wanted those dollars spent. Results of that survey showed preserving open space was a top priority, while a mega sports complex was polarizing. A third of respondents listed a mega sports complex as their most or second most appealing amenity when presented with six large-scale projects, but another third listed it as their least appealing option.

Commissioner Abe Laydon says Zebulon will be a world-class sporting venue, featuring ice rinks, courts for basketball, pickleball, volleyball, a covered baseball dome and open space.

“We heard loud and clear through our citizen survey and through, really, all the amazing kids that are involved in youth sports in our community that this is something they’re excited about, and we’re happy to deliver,” Laydon said.

While some club teams are looking forward to the facility, others say Zebulon is too far away to serve kids in their community. They say they would rather see community or nonprofit sports facilities built.

“I have concerns about the cost of this project,” said Eiko Browning in Highlands Ranch. “I have concerns that it is a public-private partnership, and that is not something that is purely for the community good, like a recreation center. This is going to be a private recreational facility for competitive sports, and not all of our kids can benefit from that, and I don’t think that we should be using taxpayer dollars to subsidize a private company.”

“This would be a public amenity, so our legal criteria is to make sure that we’re benefiting all citizens,” Laydon said. “There’s a public interest, and the concept with Zebulon is that it is open and free access to all citizens. Laydon said the complex will also host national club tournaments.

Questions surrounding mega sports complex

Still, questions surround the 500-acre mega sports complex planned for Sterling Ranch.

“How is this going to be funded?” former Commissioner Lora Thomas asked during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Why is it that we the people are financing a private development?” Browning asked in the county meeting. She was one of several neighbors who voiced their concerns.

Zebulon is a public-private partnership. But some community members say it’s not what they want their parks and open space tax dollars going to.

“I personally do not want my taxpayer money going to fund a private sports complex,” Browning said.

And it’s still unclear how may tax dollars will be allocated for Zebulon.

“It could be entirely underwritten by the private sector,” Laydon said. “My guess is that it’ll be blended and braided with county funds consistent with where our citizens want us to be.”

Laydon claims Zebulon will bring $1 billion to Douglas County’s economy in its first phase, but he couldn’t put a number on the project’s total cost.

“It’s too early to say,” Laydon said.

An emerging concern

As commissioners approved more than $400,000 for a consultant to create a design and construction plan, another concern is emerging.

At the bottom of that contract, Douglas County Attorney Christopher Pratt asked in an email, “Are they aware of the environmental issues on this site? Should we include the likelihood of having to redesign or make significant modifications due to such concerns and [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment]?”

“If there is an environmental concern, it can be mitigated, but that could just really add to the expense of the project,” Browning said.

The land Zebulon will be built on is a former DuPont dynamite manufacturing site, with a known history of contamination.

According to Court documents from a 2003 lawsuit filed by DuPont against the Douglas County Board of Equalization, “The parties agreed that the property had been used for manufacturing explosives, that its soils were contaminated, and that a 1998 compliance order required the property to be cleaned before it could be used for residential or commercial purposes.”

Douglas County and Sterling Ranch acquired the land in 2023 from the company, then known as Chemours.

“When they kick up that dirt and it makes people sick, are we going to know right away?” asked Sudee Floyd, who lives near Zebulon.

Brock Smethills, the president of Sterling Ranch Development Company, told CBS Colorado, “The site had been through over 20 years of environmental remediation and received a conditional closure letter from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.”

Smethills says some nearby land does need additional environmental remediation, adding, “At this time, it is anticipated that the private sector will be predominantly responsible for further remediation.”

“We’re not taking on any additional environmental mitigation because it already has been done,” Laydon said.

Douglas County told CBS Colorado, “For a site with known past contamination issues, an environmental assessment will be completed as part of the design phase.”

The complex still doesn’t sit right with some neighbors, who want more answers before Zebulon moves forward.

“I’m not against this type of a park,” Floyd said. “I’m not for this being hurried.”

“If, for some reason, we discover that it’s not making sense or we’re not seeing the right projections, then, we would certainly slow things down,” Laydon said. “But based upon reports from the private sector and all of our partners, we’re going to take off like a rocket.”

Laydon says they’re still working to identify private sector partners on this project. Laydon expects Zebulon to break ground this fall.

Full Brock Smethills statement

“Douglas County evaluated building a large regional sports facility within Wildcat Park in Highlands Ranch prior to the current site location of Zebulon. Highlands Ranch overwhelmingly was against locating a youth sports facility in Wildcat open space in July of 2024 (there was townhall on the topic), and this site was proposed as an alternative. The area where the sports complex is planned to be located is split between County owned land, and land owned by Sterling Ranch affiliates. It is anticipated that a land exchange will be consummated such that the County will own all of the land that includes the sports complex. The ongoing discussions with the County do not entertain a sale of property to the County, but instead a land exchange.”

“There is a lot of ‘misinformation’ regarding the site in general. Allow me to explain some historic information and give clarity to the current state of the property. The approximate 1,500 acres between Moore Road and the community of Louviers was all owned by Dupont Chemical. All of that land, except the last 357 acres, had been donated to Douglas County or acquired by Douglas County prior to 2023. Sterling Ranch affiliates acquired the last 357 acres in 2023. The site had been through over twenty years of environmental remediation and received a conditional closure letter from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment prior to our acquisition of the property (see attached). There is an area outside of the footprint of the sports complex and not located upon land that is anticipated to be owned by the County that will need further remediation in order to develop the site for commercial or residential use. In addition, some public roads and infrastructure work will occur in and around the site that needs additional environmental remediation. At this time, it is anticipated that the private sector will be predominantly responsible for further remediation as part of the development that will be adjacent to the sports complex.”

“Finally, I would like to address equity and fairness for Sterling Ranch, our homeowners, and Roxborough. All of the regional parks that were built in Highlands Ranch were paid for by Douglas County. In addition, since approximately 1998, all of the municipalities in Douglas County (with the exception of Castle Pines and Lone Tree) have received a portion of all County-wide sales taxes as matching funds for them to build parks and acquire open space. The unincorporated areas such as Sterling Ranch and Roxborough have not received any pledge of sales tax revenues, and to date, the County has only allocated $2.5 million to one individual park in this area. In addition, in the latest parks and open space sales tax extension, the municipalities are anticipated to automatically receive over $60 million for parks for their jurisdictions while the unincorporated areas receive nothing (to date, the Sterling Ranch Community Authority Board has spent over $22 million of its own budget on parks, open space and landscaping). For these reasons, it makes sense for Douglas County to locate a world-class amenity like Zebulon adjacent to Sterling Ranch in order to offer our residents and the surrounding area at large recreation opportunities that already exist elsewhere in Douglas County.”