Colorado French bakery fighting to stay open, needs vote to allow living quarters on site to survive

A French bakery business is currently fighting to stay open in Lookout Mountain, west of Denver.

Et Voila! French Bakery is asking Jefferson County's Board of County Commissioners to allow them to add living quarters near their business. Co-owner Rachel Defour says they need someone to stay on site to keep their products usable.

Defour tells the council the extra space is needed for the business to survive. The business needs someone on-site to make sure their materials for baking and making pastries are usable. Currently, Defour's sister has been supervising everything and has been working every single day since April 2025. That's why Defour is asking for a special request for living quarters.

"It would be very difficult for her to have to try," Defour said. "It would be impossible. We need to be on site to produce fresh-baked goods at 7 a.m."

The issue comes from the building being on commercial-use land, instead of residential use. Planning Supervisor Nick Nelson says any place used for commercial use cannot be used for residential use. This means mobile homes or attached homes to a business are not allowed. If the business has an extra floor, however, that can be allowed.

"To allow the temporary residential structures as a property is not in development," Nelson said. "The business is open and operating, and does not meet this requirement."

Emma Donachie, an attorney representing the bakery, says there's a solution to make it work on both sides. She said they're asking for a special exemption to allow bakery operations with residential housing for at least a year. This would help the business expand and hire more people, so they wouldn't have to stay on the site permanently. 

Here is a background with the timeline of events. This includes:

• July 2024: Asked for a building permit for interior finish for the bakery
• September 2024: Compliant received 
• October 2024: Violation issued for structures without a permit, including use for residential purposes 
• November 2024: The applicants applied for an administrative exception for a temporary use to allow structures 
• March 2025: Building permit completed 
• Aug. 15, 2025: Application for temporary use and miscellaneous permit for two trailers for residential uses 
• Aug. 21, 2025: Miscellaneous permit denied because the conditions of the site do not allow the structures for residential purposes 
• Sept. 16, 2025: Application for special exception to allow structures for residential uses 

The meeting continues to be underway on Wednesday afternoon. Jefferson County did not immediately respond to questions surrounding the timing of the vote.