GAMAL Zalaquett calls it a “wellness resort and spa” with 20 “microhaus villas.” It would sit east of Mosca and south of Lane 6 N. in Alamosa County to serve tourists visiting nearby Great Sand Dunes National Park and all the surrounding natural splendor of the San Luis Valley.

There was pushback at Wednesday’s Alamosa County Commissioners meeting from other RV park owners as the commissioners took up a special use permit to allow Zalaguett’s “Kosmos Resort & Spa” to move forward. Owners of both the Rustic Rook Resort and KOA Campgrounds off Hwy. 160 felt another campground would disrupt their successful operations and efforts to cater to Great Sand Dunes enthusiasts.

But the commissioners saw it differently and unanimously approved the special use permit. Now Zalaquett can move forward to build what doesn’t look like an RV Park or campground but fits the county’s definition of one.

Kosmos Resort & Spa is a series of 150-square-foot living quarters clustered in threes and spread over five units. There are two units with 800-square-foot living spaces, according to the plans, and all of the units include a bathroom, kitchenette, patio deck, jacuzzi, and leisure dome.

It was those distinguishing features that prompted Alamosa County Commissioner Arlen Van Ry to compare Zalaquett’s planned development to having a “BMW dealership next to a Ford dealership” when looking at other nearby campgrounds.

“I see this as a resort area and not a campground,” Van Ry said.

Alamosa County recently established a moratorium on additional RV Parks and campgrounds until it could review its own guidelines through its planning and land use commission given the volume of campgrounds around Alamosa County.

Zalaquett had filed his plans (link below) with Alamosa County before the moratorium was in place and now with the special use permit can proceed with the development. The resort, he said, plans to capitalize on the dark skies that engulf the Great Sand Dunes and surrounding Alamosa County.

“There’s a lot of people that want to come check out the Dunes. There’s so much beauty in Alamosa. There’s so much beauty in the Valley,” he said. “Those visitors need a place to stay in order to experience that beauty.”

The Alamosa County Commissioners agreed. The project will be years in the making.

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