Hey everyone—now that break is over and the season is changing, go cast your ballots. The county needs them soon so they can stay on track and get the results out early on November 2. It’s time for you to prove that mail and drop-off ballots can be done without it being fraudulent!

As usual, the CB News Candidates Forum held this past Sunday was enlightening. It gave people running for the Crested Butte town council an opportunity to share their thoughts, demeanor and policies. No one shined above the others on Sunday and no one tanked. Given the rapid changes in the valley we all are feeling, perhaps this is a time to not focus on flash and instead look at steady substance. The eight people running to represent the town are all solid, thoughtful people wanting to represent the citizens of CB and by extension the North Valley. All value the idea of maintaining a unique community.

There were some policy differences when it came to things like support for the empty house tax and the continuation of permit parking and a one-way Elk Avenue configuration. That matters but it is just important to see how they interact with one another. Chemistry on a board is important and frankly this last council in some of its iterations has had some bad chemistry, which can lead to subtle and overt conflict that is not productive. As the guy who sits through most of the meetings, I appreciate good chemistry.

I will note that no one really made me or the audience laugh much on Sunday except Chad Reich and Denis Hall who were moderating the discussion but Anna Fenerty’s suggestion that “radical times call for radical redheads” did make me smile. Despite the serious issues confronting us, a light touch is always appreciated.

So when it comes to casting a vote this fall, and you can do it now. I see three groups that sort of emerged Sunday and all are committed to representing community. Very generally, the more conservative group consists of Chris Haver and Sean Horne. Both are sincere business owners with kids and the two came across as having the intention to represent business and tourism in CB. On the more liberal end of the spectrum were Jasmine Whelan and Anna Fenerty. They both are young service workers and understand the dilemma of seeing their co-workers and friends leave the valley for a number of reasons. The middle came across with Beth Goldstone and Jason MacMillan. Those two seemed to me to lean more to the liberal side with positions but like the job professionals they are, were open to listen more and do more research on certain topics before making policy decisions. Their demeanor as much as their policy positions put them in the middle.

All of the council candidates are worthy and I always recommend when in doubt, vote for someone you know so that you can communicate comfortably with a representative.

Individually, Haver provides the most experience. A four-year incumbent, he has sat on a variety of boards aside from town council. He, like everyone running, sees the value of regional collaboration but has had the time to develop relationships with other elected officials in the region. I really like Chris and it pains me to see him as he often struggles with difficult decisions because he would like to make everyone happy. He is putting a lot of future faith in the outcome of the Community Compass planning process to guide some of his direction. While he said that council has been the hardest job he’s ever had, I wish he saw it as one of the most fun jobs as well.

Horne is strongly against the empty house tax and feels he can successfully make the ask of the second homeowners to help fund affordable housing in the community. He envisions a Crested Butte public-private partnership where the town spearheads a rental project for local businesses. But he is extremely wary of the division inherent in the proposed “vacancy tax.” I like that he brings a retail and an artist’s perspective to the conversation. He is not the typical person getting involved in politics and his unique vision is interesting. He is obviously stoked to be taking part in the democratic process.

MacMillan is one of those people who listens, analyzes and then speaks quietly but forcefully. He has proven himself to be a steady voice at the council table since being appointed to serve. He strives to see a future Crested Butte that includes his four-year-old daughter.

Goldstone is very thoughtful and smart and probably the candidate most focused on making decisions through the climate lens. She too comes across as a steady voice. She lives in affordable housing and works for the school district so brings a good perspective.

Whelan has been a good addition to the council since being appointed. She is intelligent, prepared and articulate. Being a two-year newbie to town, Whelan is less entrenched in how Crested Butte was, and looks at how to maintain the good things she sees disappearing. She is unafraid to state a position and while I don’t always agree with those positions, it is refreshing to hear clear reasoning for taking a stand on an issue. Sometimes I have seen her move away from her instincts in policy discussions to be swayed by the staff and if elected, I hope she learns to trust her gut after listening to the public.

Fenerty was born and raised in Crested Butte and is living the young 20’s life in a resort community. Working several jobs and trying to navigate the changes coming to the Valley, Fenerty brings the most unique native perspective to the discussion. She too is smart and unafraid and while I don’t agree that citizens should be writing traffic tickets, I think her youth, creativeness and history are valuable.

So Crested Butte is fortunate to be in steady hands no matter who is elected to council. I would lean toward choosing a candidate from each group to provide good debate and perspective. I’d lean toward MacMillan over Goldstone in the middle only because of his proven example sitting on the board. I believe Beth will be contributing to town for a while. Fenerty and Whelan both would add good energy and perspective from the young, working people who are disappearing. Haver or Horne are both fine choices depending if you desire regional experience or downtown retail representation.

Mayor candidates
Which brings me to the mayor’s race. Again, two experienced candidates, Ian Billick and Kent Cowherd, are running so it comes down to who do you think will best lead the council in “interesting” times. For me, that would be Billick.
I am admittedly closer to Billick personally but I have watched him professionally guide the council since his recent appointment. I think he presents the best chance to actually get things accomplished and lead a diverse group of people sitting at the table with various opinions. While Kent prides himself on attending meetings across the valley, Billick understands that much of the real work to get projects completed happens through relationships and conversations outside the council chambers. Ian has the regional relationships to bring about productive collaboration and I see how much time he invests in conversations and contacts. His admitted “impatience” can sometimes come across as being brusque but in these changing times, Billick has the abilities to strategize solutions to the problems being faced in the valley.

I appreciated Kent’s time as a councilmember and tried to talk him out of resigning when he saw a perceived conflict of interest with his architectural work and BOZAR. While he made clear Sunday that he would turn down in-town work as mayor, we are in a period when he can afford to do that. Given the ups and down of resort economies (believe it or not) that could change quickly and he might again face his dilemma.

Frankly, I also have an issue with some deliberate action taken in this election by Kent. The town has an ordinance I’ve never liked where every candidate has a chance to sign a “Voluntary Campaign Spending Limit” pledge to not spend more than a certain amount of money on the election. This year that limit is $338. Kent signed the pledge and Ian didn’t. In this week’s campaign finance reporting Kent has indicated he’s spent $994.

When I asked about that discrepancy Kent reponded that, ”I wanted to not have to spend more than $338.00, but given the fact that my opponent was spending a great deal of money and has a campaign committee with donors, I felt that I was required to match his financial effort, however I am only spending my money.”

There’s certainly nothing illegal here but as mayor you sign a lot of stuff…and a pledge is a pledge.

Despite what I consider to be a lapse in judgment with that, I think Kent was a pretty good councilman. But being mayor requires a different skill set. Given the rapidly shifting dynamics of the valley it seems clear to me that Ian has the tools to be able to herd the cats and get things done to address the challenges.

Ballot issues
As for the local ballot issues I am against both the community housing tax and the Crested Butte Fire Protection District mill levy request as proposed. I would vote for an increase in the vacation rental (STR) excise tax from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. I disagree with Billick that before making that STR fee increase a specific plan is needed. I think given the amount of money it would generate there are ample places to spend the money on affordable housing and the InDeed program that will purchase deed restrictions on existing housing units is a perfect place to earmark those funds.

As for the so-called community housing tax, I appreciated the extensive debate and evolution that took place last summer. Donations are not a real answer for a sustainable revenue source. I like that it is tied to a sales tax increase so that everyone participates if approved. But I don’t like that the council and staff rejected as superfluous the idea that the messaging would be harmful to the general community and the second homeowner part of the community specifically.

While definitely changing, one of the unique qualities of Crested Butte is that there are so many second homeowners who for years and decades have considered this place a part of their home. My adult children today remain friends with some of the second homeowner kids that would come in the summer. There are second homeowners that I consider friends. Granted, there are so many new people buying in here that the energy is changing. But if we ourselves push that negative change and move to an “us versus them” mentality instead of trying to incorporate new second homeowners into the overall community culture, it is one more thing we become that we say we are trying not to emulate. We lose that part of our Crested Butte uniqueness.

I had suggested to some council members and staff early in the discussions to follow the suggestion of a second homeowner and configure the tax as one that included a “homestead exemption.” The reaction was basically that the end result was the same and the train had left the station. I disagree. I would suggest a county or upper valley regional property tax be considered next year on all property owners — but one that includes a 90 or 95-percent homestead exemption. That would touch the second homeowners for $2,500 and the local homeowners for $125 or $250. This puts everyone in the game, gives second homeowners something they can relate to and would be less divisive than the current proposal that allows people who won’t pay the tax to impose a tax on other people. That feels inherently unfair. A more comprehensive funding mechanism that touches all property owners who benefit from workforce housing (all of us) is more appropriate than this measure that separates rather than divides elements of the community. Plus it would raise real money.

As for the CBFPD and by extension CB Mountain Rescue Team mill levy request, I agree with the audience members at the forum that expressed great appreciation for both organizations but felt the plan was too much. I have seen the cramped quarters and as the community grows, they will grow as well. They no doubt need more space. They both do phenomenal work and I appreciate their presence and support their needs for the next decade. They have stated they are looking 50 years into the future.

A plan that doubled or even tripled the current fire district space (and more for S-and-R) would be an easy yes vote. But the fire district is asking for six times the space. I’m afraid the current outlying stations will really become storage when a deeper plan could include renovating those facilities for housing for example but that hasn’t been discussed. Mountain Rescue is much too squeezed but as I walked around a 2,800 square foot house that included a two-car garage recently it occurred to me that by adding two more vehicle bays there would be a ton of useable space for their needs in a building less than 5,000 square feet. No one should build for 50 years in the future.

Kemble Widmer of Mountain Rescue made a point Sunday that both groups didn’t want to come back and ask the citizens for more money in 10 or 15 years. I would argue that is exactly what should happen. Build for the present and the next decade with an idea of how to expand if the community continues on its current trajectory. Then if and when that additional space and money is needed, check back in with the citizens.

It is understandable that no matter what, people will be inclined to support emergency services and that’s a good thing because we will all need them at some point, but I’d recommend a revamped, more reasonably sized plan for 2022.
You should have your ballot (make sure you have the correct ballot for your residence) so turn it in before November 2.

—Mark Reaman

Who would argue that chocolate doesn’t taste really good? There is a bit of a mood bump and there are all different varieties with all sorts of treats included inside a good chocolate bar. But I know if that were all I ate, I’d be a 350-pound walking zit with acid reflux issues. So I think about how much chocolate I consume and try to plan for what eating chocolate does to me. I ride my bike and eat some fruits and vegetables too. Actually, eating a Brussels sprout makes the chocolate taste that much better.

The point here is that too much of any one thing comes with consequences that aren’t always good. Not thinking about what that one thing will result in, is simply not smart.

When it comes to the North Valley right now, everyone appears focused on the chocolate that is affordable housing —rightfully so as workers are forced from their rental units and businesses are struggling to find workers living close to the jobs.

There are at least three major projects being discussed for the North Valley (Whetstone, Sixth and Butte and the North Village) and all should help with what is indeed a critical housing need at the moment. While I don’t think anyone “deserves” to live in Crested Butte I do believe it is in everyone’s best interest to get a broad economic swath of people living in a place together. And I believe there are multiple benefits to people living near the place they work. Feeling secure about where one lives is a good thing as well from a human standpoint. It may not be a “right” to live here but it is, in my opinion, the right goal to have and makes Crested Butte a better place. But it only stays a better place if the effects of the increased housing are considered. What does having that much more chocolate mean for the community? Does it taste good tomorrow but turn us into a big walking zit in a year?

There is finally some public conversation emerging about the reality of dealing with the ramifications that come with more housing. Bringing in hundreds of people living in deed-restricted units on top of the increase of people buying and building free market units up and down the valley comes with impacts we cannot ignore. As we have seen, the traffic is getting more crowded everywhere. The CB Community School is beyond capacity…again. The trailheads are packed with cars. It is harder to spontaneously pop in to a restaurant for a bite to eat.

The conversation was touched on Monday at the Crested Butte council meeting. Councilmember Mona Merrill bemoaned the fact that with more and more density being discussed, we are morphing from small town to small city. Town community development director Troy Russ called it the danger of ‘incrementalism’ where good individual projects add up to have cumulative unintended consequences, some of them not so good.

So that leads to the needed discussion to not just throw deed restricted housing at every empty space north of Round Mountain from wetlands to alleys to empty fields. Is there a limit to the number of people that can comfortably live here? Are actions being taken to bring along the needed infrastructure to accommodate that new density? If not, it’s a mistake.

Again — where does the new school building at this end of the valley go? I’d suggest the Corner at Brush Creek. Who pays for better trailheads including needed parking and signage? The Tourism and Prosperity Partnership is doing some of that now and I’d look for ways to maximize their contributions even more. Where are the lift ops going to sleep? I’d say Vail Resorts with its fat bank account should purchase existing units or property and put the workers in places where they can walk to the ski area. Using public-private partnerships to look at the big picture can lead to a unique future. The evidence is in the success of the Crested Butte Conservation Corps and our backcountry mitigation. More of that is needed right now. The hostel effort is another potential success.

Housing is important but so is a public amenity like another playing field for the kids who will eventually live in that housing. There were rumblings Monday that Mt. Crested Butte was making decisions about the future without talking to their partners and that decision would end up bloating them on chocolate and forcing their partners to again provide the mitigation for eating too much. Instead of using a parcel everyone had labeled as being for a recreation facility like a soccer field, word was that it was now being looked at for more housing. The confusion again showed the need for good partnerships.

The initial conclusion Monday evening seemed to be that active regional collaboration was the best next step. It’s not all about stuffing more workers in a bed so they can wait in line at the CB Post Office between shifts – it’s about working together to give all of the people who want to live and work and visit here a real quality of life. To give them something different than the other places struggling with the same issues. That’s what they deserve. To achieve that means thinking about capacity and taking action that not just brings more people here but provides a place that people want to live. It means eating more than just chocolate and doing the things like consuming the occasional Brussels sprout so that the chocolate tastes even better.

—Mark Reaman

Getting out of the car in Paonia Saturday afternoon it was obvious why Crested Butte might be an attractive place for people in the years to come — it was reallllly hot on that side of the pass. We walked the dogs into the river and decided to just buy a crate of peaches instead of pick them. And they are reallllly good. It was also not simple to find a place to grab a bite as Paonia too has an employee shortage issue and not everything is open when you’d expect. That problem is not unique to CB.

Struggling with 85 degrees proves we’re climate soft. But I doubt we’re the only ones as I continue to see most of the East Coast of America sweltering near 100 degrees. Heck, even Denver continues to hit those triple digits regularly, so people are naturally looking for places like this where 70 degrees is normal and 80 relatively rare.

We are blessed and that blessing will, I believe, bring more and more people to this spot as it becomes one of the more attractive places to spend a life. For most of us here now, that has always been the case, but the new climate issues add an extra dimension. That should be part of any consideration as we all plan for the future in this high mountain valley.

We all realize that as more people of means purchase homes here, the working class is being pushed out. The local governments are all working to find a new balance that helps workers live closer to their jobs. That is a good thing.

Everyone keeps wondering what the North Valley’s major employer, the ski area, is doing in that regard. So I asked and got a fairly nebulous response. (See page 21). While that might be fair as the company tries to negotiate housing for their workers for the coming winter I had hoped for more specifics and optimism. It’s not like there isn’t a major community conversation going on that should include one of the area’s major employers front and center.

It was easy to go online to find Vail Resorts had more than $1.3 billion in cash at the start of the summer. That seems a good chunk of money and some could perhaps be spent on housing for their employees at all their resorts, including those in Crested Butte. The investor calls however seemed to indicate that perhaps more ski area purchases might be top of mind.

CBMR appears ready to sign master leases for workers in upcoming regional projects, and while having contributed $65,000 from their Peachtree chairlift auction to the Valley Housing Fund, they are not putting up units when they need them as much as anyone — and can probably afford them more than everyone. I’d suggest they let the smaller local businesses have first shot at the government projects. I asked how many units of workforce housing CBMR currently owns and I couldn’t get a hard number.

While a global corporation’s first thought is probably an immediate responsibility to shareholders, the company will see their profits shrink when they cannot staff the restaurants, the ski patrol huts or the lift shacks, and have to stop doing what they do to make money. Without workers there won’t be much skiing, which means there won’t be much profit for those shareholders. So, it would actually be a savvy business move to build workforce housing, wouldn’t it? Collaboration is important as one tool in the toolbox but so is putting hard dollars and leadership to work.

Walking out of the office on Monday afternoon I caught a glimpse of the Dragon Wagon doing laps over by Totem Pole Park. Yup – Michael Blunck is at it again leading the way to raise money through this year’s virtual Bridges of the Butte Adaptive Sports Center fundraiser. That guy has for years been one of the faces riding his crazy bike around town and taking pledges to help support the good work of Adaptive. This year the event is going on between now and September 12 with a four-hour culminating ride on that Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. And Blunck has pledged to ride at least two hours every day between now and then. He clocked 26 miles on day one. It was good to see him doing circles with a small support posse on Monday. He is out there on a dragon-bedecked townie so if you see him, throw him a bone.

Getting in a final ride on one of the best mountain bike trails in the valley on Sunday was again evidence of valuable partnerships. The Snodgrass trail cuts through property owned by the Allen Ranches and they generously allow hikers and bikers to use it until they bring back the cattle to graze on that parcel. Snodgrass is one of the old-school favorites and one of the prettiest trails with easy access for everyone. For the ranchers to permit the public to use it is very generous and I for one appreciate it. So please respect the current closure so that they will continue to allow that privilege. This community has always found partnership between different segments of the community the best way to keep the character of place going. This is but one good example. Let’s continue on that path so we can continue to use that path.

Saw that The National Weather Service has officially issued a La Niña Watch for the coming winter and if that forecast holds true, it will have an impact on what this ski season looks like in Colorado. Crested Butte always seems on the edge of the weather patterns but typically that forecast means a bit less snow and bit more wind for the state in general. But we’ve also had some pretty good snow in La Niña years. In other words…who the heck knows what it’ll be like this winter…but as you can see from some of the color changes — winter is coming!

As stressed out as the town seemed to be all summer, the last week or so has brought back a feeling of relief: there are fewer people in line for a table, fewer cars trying to dodge flower boxes, more faces that are recognizable than not. The fall weekends can still get a bit hectic but the collective pullback from summer energy is a good thing. While some resort towns desire that level of July busyness 12 months a year, I for one am glad that is not the case here and hope we never aspire to see that.

A healthy balance includes a real off-season. This is the time for those living here to enjoy what it is we moved here for…and it’s not more work. This holiday weekend traditionally marks the shift toward the next season — so get out and enjoy it…and appreciate the peaches from our friends in the North Fork.

—Mark Reaman

[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

Jessica Rutherford doesn’t remember that very small part of her life spent in her birthplace of Englewood, New Jersey, because her parents packed up the car and headed west to Taos, New Mexico, to escape their corporate lifestyles after questing for the best ski resort. Jessica was only two and her elder sister, Molly (Eldridge), was just four years old when their parents bought the Hondo Lodge in 1974. “There weren’t a ton of kids since it was a young party scene kind of thing,” she says. “There was a ton of snow and we lived in this little A-frame while we built a house. There was a core group of kids and we all hung out together, spending most of our time skiing or running around in the woods pretending,” Jessica describes of her wild child youth in the 1970s.

Her parents started her on the slopes when she was still a toddler, so she’s been a skier as far back as she can recall. “I remember crying at the top of Reforma because the moguls were bigger than I was, and my parents were telling me I could do it.”

When she was eight, the family moved closer to town in Taos where, Jessica explains, it’s a tri-culture community. “There’s the Taos Pueblo, the Hispanic, which are the majority of people, and then, at that time, the minority white people. I had hair like a dandelion puff, it was so white, so I was definitely made fun of,” she says. Her parents sent Jessica off to the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire for middle and high school, where generations of her family were also alumni. “Exeter was intense with high academic standards, but it also made me a super strong person and made me find myself and my own confidence.” She graduated in 1990.

Jessica enrolled at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do so I ended up majoring in psychology. I had great friends and at times, learned a lot, and loved being in the city because I had always lived in a small town,” she says. But she moved back West right after graduation.

“The East allowed me to interact with a variety of people but I’m a girl of the West and I wanted to ski and be near mountains,” she explains. She moved to Yosemite National Park with a friend for the summer of 1994. “I wanted a summer of hiking, and we hiked every trail in the park.”

Jessica’s parents had taken her and Molly on a ski trip to Crested Butte in 1992, skiing at both the Irwin Lodge and on the mountain. Later, in 1997, her parents became part of an investment team called the Irwin 10 that bought the lodge. “My sister and her husband moved here to run the lodge,” which ran until 2002 and they were the last to have the lodge open. “We worked a lot of weddings up there and we cat skied a ton. It was a really fun time and got to experience the magic of that place.”

In 1994 Jessica had decided to move to Crested Butte, with Stephanie Prater helping to secure a winter job for her at the CBMR Kids Ski School. She was 22 years old and arrived on Halloween. “I’ve been here ever since,” she says with a smile. “We skied every day. I worked many jobs at once to survive.” However, after years of ski bumming and waiting tables to survive, Jessica felt it was time to pursue her interest of becoming a teacher and she enrolled at Western State College (now Western Colorado University) in their elementary education program.

She was working full-time while going to school full-time and then student taught for a year in Gunnison. She earned her teaching certificate in 1997. “I thought there’d be more jobs available,” she admits. “I applied for every elementary teaching position that became available in both Gunnison and CB.”

During her interviewing phase, Jessica was a teacher’s aide and a literacy intervention teacher. “I was a substitute teacher. I tried to stay in the school as much as possible so I could get my foot in the door and I was still waiting tables at the Idle Spur. Teaching positions were impossible to get at that time,” she explains.

One day, Jessica had a revelation. “After my very last second runner-up rejection, I was super upset and I felt I couldn’t apply for another position and be rejected,” she says. That was the impetus for her to consider opening her own school. She and Jamie Lewis, another teacher who was also working at the Spur, wrote down all their ideas on a bar napkin at work. “From there, we researched what it would take to open a preschool. We had to take more classes to get certified,” she says. In addition, they needed money and a place to build the school. “We had to find investors for the down payment on the loan for the school and we still had to find a place to put the school.”

An owner in CB South stepped up and agreed to sell them a lot, and the duo got to work designing the building, but eventually had to give in and hire an engineer. “We didn’t have any money, but we persevered,” Jessica laughs. They opened their doors to young students on September 4, 2001, and this year The Little Red Schoolhouse celebrates 20 years. “We only had four kids enrolled. We started with kids from two and a half years old and up. I’m still in touch with those kids,” Jessica says. The two teachers were still working at the Idle Spur while running the school. “We worked our butts off. We always paid our bills but couldn’t pay ourselves for three years,” Jessica says.

Jessica had her daughter, Amelia, in August of 2003. She had met Amelia’s dad, Thomas, during her summer stay in Yosemite National Park in ‘94 and the two were married for 27 years before going their separate ways.

In 2004, her business partner, Jamie, decided that she wanted to start her own family back East, so Jessica bought her out. Reaching the three-year mark, the school was doing much better with 15 students a day and Jessica was able to complete the upstairs of the building, which increased enrollment and expanded the classes to include pre-kindergarten and 4- and 5-year-olds, in addition to the already enrolled toddler and up kids. In 2010, during the recession, Jessica opened Teeny Red Schoolhouse specifically for infants and toddlers. “I figured it was beneficial for families to have all their younger children in one place, even though it was a huge financial risk.” The school now boasts a staff of a dozen for almost 70 kids. “It’s cool to see the growth of the school from four students to 70,” says Jessica.

Jessica still loves to ski, both Nordic and downhill and, she says, “I hike a ton in the summer and SUP, everything outside. I love to travel too. I went abroad for junior semester in college, living in Florence, Italy and traveling all over Europe. I travel to warm places after the winter, Costa Rica, Belize. It’s really fun going to the beach after all that snow. We all need some sun and sand,” she smiles. These days, the school is even busier in the summer but, she says, “It brings me so much joy. I just love all the kids and I feel I have a lot to give. It’s a rewarding job for sure.”

Jessica is deeply entrenched in Crested Butte’s community and her friendships here through so many decades, plus, she says of Molly who also lives here, “My sister is my best friend. I feel like our community is so supportive of others and it’s a fun place to be with all of our traditions and antics that happen all year. Even though there’s so much growth, I still see the heart of CB shining through. It makes me sad when people are bashing our town because I still see the core, I still see the beauty. I choose to be positive.”

Walking the dogs in the early evening helped bring back some calm. Before the big moon came over the ridge one could see Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. There’s a lot going on up there besides billionaire Jeff Bezos flying a, shall we say, interesting looking rocket to suborbital space but from down here it appears pretty quiet. The week’s crystal blue skies cleared of haze with a fall twinge in the air, along with a much more mellow energy on Elk Avenue also helped bring a community breath to the valley.

After several ‘celebrations of life’ this past week, it was nice to feel that breath. Not that those celebrations didn’t bring some calm and closure for a big group of people who appreciated friends lost too early. It was a chance to reconnect with many who have moved on but still love this place.

What they still like are the memories of the good old days and the incredible beauty that still surrounds us today. They ask about the pace of change and everyone wonders if there is a next best place. But this valley continues to hold a magical place in people’s hearts and that’s because the place is as much an idea as locale.

Special places for individuals are based in time. They are times forged through relationships and experience. For many today, Crested Butte is the best place ever. Awed by the outdoor opportunities and special friendships, they are experiencing the joy of nature and the fortune of living in a small town. Others hang on to the uniqueness that is present here but feel the stress as it gets harder and harder to live as a working person in the valley. They are increasingly gasping for breath.

It again struck home to me that what is out of balance in this time for the community in general is the opportunity for workers to live in the North Valley and be a daily part of the CB society. Plenty of people still live in town, in Mt. CB and in the surrounding subdivisions full-time. The growing school is testament to that. But unlike a few years ago, the free market is out of reach for those who depend on any wages to live and eventually raise a family here. Even in the ‘80s and ‘90s most people worked several jobs to stay here but now that doesn’t matter as real estate prices skyrocket out of reach for most without access to seven figures.

While it is not everyone’s ‘right’ to have a house with a yard on Maroon Avenue, it is the right thing to do to figure out as a community how workers can have a roof over their head near the place where they work. It makes the community richer and better for everyone.
And while some of those who complain of government overreach also blame local government for not providing houses to the working people, there is real movement to confront the issue by almost every local elected official. The second homeowner community has also actively stepped up and put the old Crested Butte Hostel under contract to help provide pillows to those who work up here. Part of their plan involves getting local businesses to help with filling rooms so they too have a place to house those that make their businesses successful. CBMR, through Vail Resorts, should be a financially contributing member of that new partnership. It’s not a magic wand solution and there are still a lot of details to figure out, but there is progress that might put a dent in the problem before the snow flies.

Which brings me to the next thought. In order to not just grow like a mushroom in the dark woods, the community should actively decide how much housing is really necessary for workers. How many workers short are we right now? Is it 100? 350? 500? Understand that building hundreds more apartments or houses means those living in them in five years will need more plumbers, teachers and waiters. That cycle of growth makes it never ending. Building the things to mitigate that growth should be part of every discussion moving forward.

Throwing up 300 deed restricted housing units at the Whetstone parcel, 180 at Brush Creek, 120 at North Village, 70 at Sixth and Butte without considering the infrastructure needed to service those living there is not smart. How short of staff is the Stash, the Nickel, Peak Property, Rocky Mountain Trees or any construction crew? What is the actual hard number worker shortage in the North Valley? 1,000? How many more workers are needed during ski season? Should we not determine how big we want to grow with our workforce and build to what we need instead of saying we can keep trying to build our way out of it?

Just as important, we should then responsibly address the infrastructure needed to serve the growth we are asking for. I would suggest that the Brush Creek parcel be used not exclusively for housing but for a school campus serving say, K-5 students because with workforce housing comes more families. That 14-acres could include some of the fields that would be needed for more kids and residents as the place expands. It could also include some housing units around those fields for teachers, bus drivers and kitchen help working with the school district.

As the town reduces the number of required parking spaces for affordable housing, there should be a spot, perhaps a Whetstone Industrial Lot, where those living in places without enough parking can leave their vehicle. Living in Crested Butte does indeed provide opportunity for people not to use a car, but most people will still have them. So let them park in a place where they can leave their car without threat of a ticket and can easily grab it when they head to Denver or the desert for spring break. And don’t forget the need for more water for more people and less congested trailheads. Workers here should have a good quality of life and not just be serfs that catch a bus to their job.

Celebrating the life of people who are connected to the place, to the idea of Crested Butte, is important. It is important that we get to a point where we can continue to do that for people who work here now. Workers not being able to live up at this end of the valley is evidence that something is broken. A thoughtful, strategic plan to fix that broken element of community is important. To ‘fix’ the problem also means considering the impacts of the growth that comes with any solution and fixing those things as well. That would be something to celebrate with a long, deep breath as we continue to move toward unique success.

—Mark Reaman

[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

Dancin’ Dan’s nickname isn’t from the big smile he usually has, or because he breezes through life, sashays down the ski slopes or because he’s just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Its origin goes way back to his childhood days when, at six years old, he decided he wanted to fancy foot it and take dance lessons. The name, Dancin’ Dan, has fittingly stuck with him all these years.

“My sister was taking dance and being an inquisitive six-year-old, and I wondered what was going on behind the curtain on stage. I took tap and jazz lessons for 10 years of my childhood. It was a little more expensive than hockey so that didn’t go over very well with my parents, but they were encouraging.” Dan quit lessons when he was 16 because, he laughs, “It turns out that when your name is Dancin’ as a young child, it’s not that cool. Imagine being in a hockey locker at 10 and being called Dancin’ Dan and how the other kids dealt with that.”

Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, Dan’s entire extended family played a lot of hockey and baseball. “We have a big family, like 30 cousins.” As far as growing up in a metropolitan area, Dan says, “In the world of cities, it’s not a city at all, maybe half a million people.” School wasn’t his favorite thing, he confesses. “I would rather have been playing hockey and hanging with my friends.” He graduated in 2001 with not a clue as to what he wanted to do but he enrolled in Des Moines Area Community College, which lasted for six months before he bolted to Boulder. “I had friends there and wanted to be out West and I was ready for change. I was very good at the college lifestyle,” he grins and confirms, “but school wasn’t my favorite thing. I was 19 years old and being reckless.”

Dan wanted access to the mountains so he could snowboard. “I started boarding in high school on random small-hilled resorts in Iowa.” Meanwhile, back in Boulder, he was waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory during the winter of 2002.

One day, he and a childhood hockey buddy, who was now playing for Western State College (now Western Colorado University) crossed paths in Denver. ”We got loaded and had a good time. I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t enjoying the city,” says Dan of his brief move to Denver. When his buddy told him that a roommate was moving out in a month, Dan jumped on the Gunnison opportunity, exclaiming, “I’ll be there in two weeks!”

“I moved to Gunnison with a box, a backpack and a lamp, recalls Dan. The next day, he came up valley to Crested Butte where, he says, “It clicked for me, it made sense.” He got a summer job at The Trough in Gunnison and that winter started working as a cook for CBMR at the Paradise Warming House. “The whole point was getting the pass. I was hitchhiking to work, back and forth to Gunnison, for three years.” He moved to CB on July 5, 2005.

One summer, Dan trekked off to Alaska, citing the high wages made working in the fishing industry there. “I lived on Prince of Wales Island, where you have to take either a float plane or boat to access it. It’s definitely isolated.” Dan was working shoreside operations at a charter fishing lodge. “Processing and shipping a lot of fish for fishing tourists. They pay well, feed you and board you but it was a lot of work every single day, so I didn’t do a lot of outdoor things,” he explains.

Dan returned to CB in the fall, working at the Grand Lodge. It was in the fall of 2008 that he went to work at Soupçon, initially as a back waiter. In the time since, Dan became a server and now, he’s the wine director. “I developed the wine director position in 2015 because I had begun to take wine very seriously in my life and knew I was interested in trying to make a career out of wine.”

Dan notes that working with the long-term staff and then owner Jason Vernon at Soupçon taught him tremendously. “Wine studying itself is something you have to take upon yourself. You read a lot of books and taste a lot of wine. There are tests you have to take to achieve sommelier and there’s a court of master sommeliers who give the tests. It’s all about learning wine rules and the geography of where and why wines come from where they come from.” As wine director at Soupçon, he jokes, “I’m basically a well dressed bus boy who sells wine.”

With his love and knowledge of wines, Dan started his business Elevated Wine Source (elevatedwinesource.com) five years ago, offering his services to others as a wine cellar consultant. “I stock and manage private wine collections in Colorado,” he says of his clients in Denver, Telluride and various other places, although most of his clients are in the Crested Butte area and Gunnison Valley. “I saw it as an education situation because it was an opportunity to see different wines and producers I didn’t know.”

He realized with his first clients that there were probably more people who could benefit from this service. “Taking care of a wine collection means organizing, inventorying and developing a plan for storage from short-term to long-term. Most of my clientele’s wine is for consumption. Every wine collection is so different because each person wants their collection based on what they like. I learn about a client’s flavor profile, the wines they like and then you can expand and teach them about different parts of the world with regards to wine. I feel very lucky that I get to be passionate about what I do everyday.” Dan’s also at Soupçon five nights a week sharing his wine pairing expertise.

Like most locals, Dan works hard and long but certainly gets to do the things he loves. “The year before COVID hit, I caught the travel bug and spent six weeks in South America, mostly Peru and Chile. Peru stole my heart, the people were amazing, the food is world-class and the mountains are all-time. You can get up to 20,000 feet quickly in the Andes.” He then went to the Philippines to dive for six weeks. “That’s all I did. I got certified over there for open water, advanced and enriched air. I was diving 100 feet and seeing turtles, sharks and coral,” he says of his island-hopping adventure. When he’s able to travel again, Dan is planning a trip to Italy and France for wine and hopefully, sometime in the future, New Zealand. “I’d love to get back to South America and skiing in Canada. I want to go everywhere in the world, it’s a massive place,” he smiles. He recently completed his fifth trip down the Grand Canyon, and as he puts it, “I’m a whitewater enthusiast.”

“Crested Butte is home, no question about that,” says Dan. “I’m a die-hard ski bum who figured out that wine can enable me to do the things I love,” he says, and he was fortunate to have recently found an affordable rental house on the notorious Bad Girl Alley in town. “I was in my last house on Third Street for a decade. It was a dump but the landlord put it on the market, so I had to move out. But it’s all good. It sucked to have to move in July but it shined a bright little light on some changes I think I needed in my life. My current landlords were wine clients of mine and I met them at Soupçon, then they became friends,” he says of the second homeowners who decided that renting to a local would benefit the community. “When I moved to the valley, I definitely met the best friends of my life. The core group of friends, we’ve all found our niche, you figure out what you have to do to make it work. Life is all about costume changes. I am a CB citizen, a dirtbag who loves to live in the woods and have fun with my friends, but I put on a suit and I aspire to be the best at what I love. We all wear many different costumes in this town.”

by Dawne Belloise

M’Lissa Story’s mom felt that “Mel” was a truck driver’s name and “Missy” was too prissy, so she crunched it with an apostrophe and made it as unique as her daughter. “It’s on my birth certificate. It’s always been a conversation piece. Oftentimes people will question the name and it gives me an opportunity to have conversations that I wouldn’t typically have had,” she says. 

Although she lived in the Los Angeles area, her childhood memories are of being outdoors and in the mountains. “We had a tiny, old, beat up cabin in Mammoth, so I grew up skiing there. My parents would take me out of school and we’d drive up. I’m so grateful that my parents were outdoors oriented,” she says. “They introduced me to enjoying those wild places at a very young age. It really set me on a trajectory of having my own personal relationship with being outdoors and the mountains.”

M’Lissa left California right after high school to attend Arizona State University as a fine arts major, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. “I was under the influence of the American dream – that illusion about graduating with a degree, getting a corporate job, buying a house with the white picket fence,” she admits, but that dream was also an internal conflict for her on many levels. She went to work for an ad agency, however, she realized her folly half a year into the corporate job. “Even though I was doing art and the thing I loved, it was a sterile environment and that was limiting,” she explains. “There were restrictions and it wasn’t the work environment that I wanted to be in and when you’re in your early twenties, you’re still trying to find your way.” 

Her college roommate had moved to Vail and invited M’Lissa to join her. She had visited Colorado as kid and in high school on family ski trips, “Steamboat, Vail, Copper, and Crested Butte. I definitely connected with the mountains.” 

M’Lissa headed out and found work as a ski instructor. “I loved it but I was working three jobs,” she says, with her additional employment at a Benetton clothing store and also waiting tables at the Vail Country Club. 

As much as she loved the mountains, she always had an urge to do something quite different, “I had a burning desire to go to the East Coast because I wanted to know how the other half lives.” She moved to Manhattan with two duffle bags, no place to stay, and no job, “So, without any of the typical fundamental things you move for,” she laughs. After a bit of couch surfing, she moved in with a friend on the upper west side. Her friends would tease her about her Colorado ways of making eye contact, being too friendly and her inability to hail a cab. “You need to get bold and that was the beauty of my experience there. Back then, New York City had such a blunt straight forwardness, a candor, but there was also an odd beauty in that. There was an authenticity,” she feels.

She was doing temp work and became a financial assistant for Smith Barney. “I was working for three stockbrokers during the day and at night I was cold calling for qualified leads. They buy these lists of people to pitch the latest and greatest stocks.” Part of the experience for M’Lissa was the NYC culture, enjoying Broadway, off-off broadway, the museums and even the New Jersey shores and all the diverse cuisine that “the city that never sleeps” has to offer. Manhattan is notoriously expensive however, and her rent alone consumed three-quarters of her paycheck. She was sharing a one bedroom apartment. “We had twin beds. I loved it but I went to Central Park every day for my nature fix that I needed desperately. It started to wear on me.”

M’Lissa went back to the west coast, Orange  County, and got a job as the east coast sales manager for Powder Magazine, part of Surfer Publications. She covered all of the east coast and the state of Colorado. Two years later, she created her own business, Summit Sports Marketing, and did marketing and public relations in the outdoor industry. Some of her clients included Kelty, Ibex Wool clothing, Boreal climbing shoes and Bombshell, a women’s snowboard clothing company. “It was before the days of social media, so it was old school press releases and interacting with all the journalists to promote the products and get them into the different magazines.” 

She worked her company for 15 years, during which time she got engaged to a Powder Magazine co-worker, then moved to Telluride and got married. “We traveled the mountain resorts and we got free ski passes.” 

They decided to move instead of traveling to all the places and mountains they loved, “It was between Crested Butte and Telluride. It was a difficult decision, but we settled in Telluride.” A decade later, she moved solo to Durango, but never felt connected to the town. “It was too big, it was a big city to me.” 

She stayed long enough to go back to school to get her masters in Ecological Economics through Prescott College in Arizona, which had a low residency program. “It allowed me to study what I wanted and design my own curriculum. The impetus was, I wanted to get to the root of why is it that everything I love is being destroyed.” And she feels she got her answer, “It’s for money. Why are the forests being clearcut? Why are the oceans being polluted? Why is there not holistic growth instead of urban sprawl? Unfortunately, we have one measuring stick and that’s money.”

She moved to Crested Butte in the autumn of 2016 after a long-time friend offered an extra room. Two months later, she found a studio just out of town. M’Lissa was freelancing in communications while working on a big project and then was hired by KBUT as events manager. “I love community radio. I wanted to immerse myself and get involved in the community.” She was also a server at the Sunflower. 

Somewhere along the line, M’Lissa decided to start up another company. “I got this wild hair that I wanted to start an organic cold press juice company,” which she named High Lift Juicery, and featured her unpasteurized juices at the Sunday farmers’ markets as well as Mountain Earth and Scouts General Store. “I worked so much but I could barely pay my rent, so after two years, I let go of the idea because I truly could not make enough juice to make a living.” M’Lissa returned to her roots in communications, marketing, PR, social media, websites, and content creation. She’s had such great success that all her business is word of mouth. “I’ve never been busier,” she says. However, her housing situation changed and M’Lissa now needs to find a place to live. 

“It’s so unsettling to not have a place of my own. I’m constantly in survival mode,” she says, and is currently couch surfing at a friend’s house with her two dogs. “I have been looking for a place to live since March. The landscape for rentals has changed so drastically that people don’t even list their places. Housing is so tight now, it’s all word of mouth and people are securing places three months in advance, if they’re lucky.” Back in June, she looked at a one bedroom rental for $2,800 per month, “I can’t afford that but at least it was pet friendly.” 

M’Lissa considers some of the reasons for town’s issues. “People are coming to this funky, close knit community to escape the ills of society but then they bring those ills with them. I lived in Telluride in the mid ‘90s for over a decade. I like tattered curbs. I don’t like round abouts. Everything’s polished, manicured and everything has to be within a kind of rule or regulation. To me, that’s not how humans want to live. Sadly, I see this happening in CB. It hits hard. I truly thought I’d be in Telluride my entire life. I was incredibly active, on ten different nonprofit boards. I organized educational workshops about green building, organic, local food. This was a natural springboard to start the Telluride farmers market. I was hugely involved as a community activist. The idea is, we’re in this together, we can evolve with the change, being proactive and doing it mindfully instead of retroactively. If you’re only using one measuring stick, the bottom line is, things start to get distorted. Are we saving open space or selling it?” 

Underneath her rant she confesses her fear of losing the community that she knows and loves. “There’s a reason that I love this place and weather the storm.” She hopes to someday be able to buy into affordable housing. Community is what keeps her here. She was also on the Creative District board, volunteers at local events when she can and last fall started volunteering with the CB Search and Rescue.  

“Relationships are a vital part of the health of the community. Community is not separate, it’s cultivated through taking care of each other. To be in community is to be personal. It’s not all about the money. I feel like I’m one of the wealthiest people because of my friends.” But she asks the question on most locals’ minds, “How do we preserve the character and funkiness of the community we love? How do we save that?”

It’s time to talk resiliency…

by lindsey freeburn

(Editor’s Note: Lindsey Freeburn has lived in the valley for nine years and has become increasingly involved in the issues impacting her and the generation of young people trying to make a life in the community. A WCU graduate, Lindsey has lived at both ends of the valley and has held a variety of positions with local organizations and businesses. Lindsey also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and draws inspiration from her personal, educational, and professional pursuits. We asked her to contribute her insights and opinions on a somewhat regular basis to the CB News. We look forward to reading her point of view…—Mark Reaman)

There’s no denying that our valley is changing—and it’s changing fast. While efforts for community preservation are critical, preservation is only the tip of the iceberg. I commend CB Town Council for trying to slow the displacement of our workforce through the STR moratorium and applaud town staff for devising policies that attempt to reconnect the local economy to a portion of the housing stock through the Community Preservation Fee. 

I urge us all, however, to shift our thinking from preservation to resiliency. The idea of preservation provides false hope. We cannot go back to the way things were pre-COVID, pre-Vail Resorts, pre-2012 housing boom, or beyond. Not to mention, the idea of “preserving our community” almost feels like we are trying to place it in a museum so that visitors can enjoy the entertainment the quirky residents of Crested Butte provide. 

Most of us don’t want preservation. We want resiliency. We want resources to withstand or quickly recover from difficult conditions. Those that live here year-round prove our individual resiliency over and over. We celebrate the snow storms and endless winters that often drive others away. We sacrifice the wages and financial freedoms available elsewhere because “hey, we get to live in paradise.” We drop everything to support our friends, family, and neighbors through struggles and crisis because infrastructure and community resources continue to lack. But we are losing the ability to maintain our individual and collective resiliency. 

We are reaching a breaking point. Our businesses can’t operate at full capacity due to a lack of employees. Our existing workforce is overworked and worn thin, while also struggling with threats of displacement and actual displacement. Our school system is fighting to meet demands in anticipation for the upcoming school year. And local hangouts that feed the soul of our community are closing left and right (RIP The Brown Lab—you will be deeply missed).

A lack of locally-accessible housing is the largest contributing factor to these issues. Our local workforce has become completely disconnected from our local housing stock.

I keep hearing that we need significant donations or funds to increase our affordable and available housing. Great. Who is spearheading that? Who is supporting that? Who has donated? Town alone stated they need $4 million per year to begin amending the disparities between our workforce needs and available housing. And town is only one small piece of this puzzle.

What is Mt. CB doing to make real strides in these efforts? Overall, Mt. CB Town Council appears more focused on preserving the peace and protecting individual investments than finding tangible solutions to support our workforce and local economy. Similarly, the County is making great strides on affordable housing in Gunnison, but the efforts north of Gunnison continue to lag. I certainly hope both these entities recognize that supporting housing in the North Valley is critical to the resiliency of our valley as a whole.

How do we support and rebuild community resiliency? For starters, housing must be our first priority (before flower boxes or noise ordinances or signage to make visitors feel more at home). I urge all jurisdictions to support the development of affordable housing as if our livelihood depends on it…because it does. 

However, we cannot continue to operate under the guise that limitless development is a feasible or responsible solution. For one, we are already pushing the limits of our water resources (if you need proof, ask anyone living or working in Riverland this summer or take a drive out to Blue Mesa). 

Because of this, it’s also time to think creatively and give up some of our “not in my backyard” tendencies. Programs like InDeed (that would assist locals in buying existing units that then become deed-restricted) and Housing Matters (a GVRHA initiative to provide LTR (long-term rental) owners with a form of community-backed insurance) allow us to tweak our existing housing stock to better serve our local workforce and economy. Let’s continue exploring and pursuing these types of policy solutions. 

Similarly, let’s focus on reducing barriers to creative housing solutions. Let’s reconsider some iteration of tiny home communities. Tiny homes allow locals to invest in their own stable housing, provide a level of financial freedom and independence not available in rental situations, and require far fewer public resources than full-scale housing developments. Many barriers to this type of housing solution exist across jurisdictions and any barriers to housing, in the midst of a housing crisis, must be reexamined. 

Beyond housing, let’s support resiliency by accepting that our valley is changing and acknowledging that we have an incredible opportunity to shape the future we want to see. Getting stuck in the mindset of preservation (the idea that “it’s always been this way, so it should stay”) discredits important lessons we learn along the way and downplays the relentless work of our resilient—but exhausted—community as we face hurdle after hurdle, adapting every step of the way.

You can’t go backwards and as a community we probably shouldn’t want to. Focus should be on enjoying the moment and shaping the future. It’s hard to do when mudslides are closing roads for a few hours, your waiter lives in a van or kitchen staffs are walking out mid-shift so the steak place has to feature salads but that is all the more reason to focus ahead.

The actions and decisions of today will guide where we’ll be in five or 10 or 20 years. Fight the mine and embrace tourism as your main economy and you eventually have to deal with resort issues. Build easier and nicer trails and there will eventually be more people at the trailhead. Build a school and hire an exemplary staff and eventually more parents will enroll their kids there.

For those of us who have been here awhile, the two main factors in “changing” Crested Butte are probably perceived as getting a good K-12 school up here and the purchase of the ski area by Vail Resorts. The school is the prime mover when it comes to more people moving full-time to the north valley and making general growth an issue. The Vail connection probably increased the tourism, short-term rental and second homeowner factors in the area. COVID turbo-charged all of it.

So as the two towns debate how best to mitigate and contain the growth of tourism and short-term rentals it was not super surprising for me to hear a couple of people from very different political leanings suggest this week that the community should look at the school to curb some of the current growth. Both people basically suggested the Crested Butte Community School should stop taking new students.

Bold. One suggested the district simply stop it now given the need for more modular classrooms, while the other suggested that a cap be implemented and any new students enrolling beyond the appropriate cap (whatever is decided) be bused to Gunnison where there is more room. I can’t see that going over well with local families that have kids in local preschools but I said to one of the people making the suggestion that I would throw the idea out there for people to chew on. It would certainly change things.

The school is a definite factor in growth. Families put a good school system at the top of their list when making the decision to relocate. And the CBCS is beyond good – it is great as evidenced by its consistent state and national rankings. It is basically a college-prep school that people can send their kids to for free instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars in annual tuition for a private school. Stopping school enrollment at CBCS would likely stop many people from moving here and might result in no need to increase property taxes to expand the Crested Butte campus.

I’m not supporting this idea but the suggestion to cap the CBCS enrollment numbers was meant as a truly bold action that would make an immediate impact. So I asked school district superintendent Dr. Leslie Nichols about the idea and she didn’t exactly embrace the plan even if it would save the expense of expanding the Crested Butte campus.

“We are a public school district. When kids show up, we educate them,” she stated emphatically. “Our district has attendance boundaries that are geographically based, not based in when someone moves to the valley. We all value our neighborhood schools. The county and our towns are doing good work and grappling with difficult issues that have landed here because of complex economic factors that are beyond our local control. Our excellent schools across the valley do what all of us want and expect – we provide a stellar education for all of our community’s kids. This school district’s focus will remain there – on tending our kids and their families and our community so we all have young folks thriving and then graduating with as many options for their lives as possible.”

I’m not sensing she thinks limiting the numbers at CBCS is a great idea. But given the overcrowding situation, what exactly is the tipping point? Leslie also brought up the valid point that, “Most economic policies and theories are built around growth. When that comes to our magical mountain backyards, finding ways to manage that growth is complicated without question.”

And that is where we as a community are now: working to find ways to manage that growth. It was a no-brainer for someone like me with young children to support getting a K-12 school up here 24 years ago. It was a great addition to the North Valley even as enrollment went from about 300 to just under 800 last year. Choosing a tourism economy over a mine economy brought lots of new comforts that I would not want to give up. Pulling back on summer marketing and pushing ahead with backcountry management are both good decisions in managing growth impacts. The question that we face now seems to me — how do we regain a broad balance with our community members?

I think it is safe to say that more people live in the North Valley now than ever. But it is increasingly harder, even in deed-restricted housing, for the service workers to afford Crested Butte and the North Valley. The school is a huge draw for people moving here and when a family relocates it takes money these days. Unlike families that came here in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, the new residents don’t need the service industry cash flow to make a life here. In the last 15 to 20 years, most new people come with the financial means to buy the old ski bum houses, fix them up as comfortable family homes and join the community. So while they are here as full-time residents and contributing members of the community, they aren’t working as bartenders or waitresses or ski instructors as my wife and I and our friends did. That’s a big difference.

And that seems to be the real challenge that needs to be under the spotlight. It’s not about trying to get more people to live in town, there seems to be more than ever. It’s not about telling some they shouldn’t be able to live in town because they make too much money, because most are adding to the valley. But the community members that make a resort community run, that keep the restaurants open and the ski lifts turning, are being forced away in the free and even restricted housing market.

Given that, I would suggest that any new deed-restricted project (and there are several on the drawing board) should probably include measures that put those service workers to the front of the rental or purchase line. Any new free market home being built up here should be required to include an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that is rented to a working local.

It’s not about stopping all growth by limiting the school or essentially banning middle-income second homeowners— it’s about guiding the growth. I get that people’s circumstances will evolve and people serving drinks today may not always be working behind a bar. But as we take steps to grow the place (and building scores of new affordable housing units grows the place and BTW, makes the school more crowded), we should grow it with thought and make sure we support the people that keep the place we love, running.

—Mark Reaman

To place a moratorium or not?

[ By Kendra Walker ]

While it’s still unclear whether or not the Mt. Crested Butte town council will place a moratorium on new short-term rentals (STRs), it’s clear they are concerned about the unanswered questions and community impacts of STRs and are making an effort to hear from all sides of the community.

During a special town council meeting on Monday, July 26, the council provided the public an opportunity to voice their concerns about STRs and the valley-wide housing crisis, discussed regulatory changes to the STR license program, and weighed the pros and cons of issuing a moratorium on new STR licenses.

However, no decisions were made. “All of us need time to process what we hear and learn this evening,” said mayor Janet Farmer. She also noted the importance of finding a balance between full-time, part-time, and tourist needs.

As of June, there are 613 STR licenses in Mt. Crested Butte and since January 1 the town has received 36 requests for new licenses. A staff memo to the council reads, “Currently we have 28 pending applications, however a few recent applications were submitted just in case a moratorium went into place.”

The majority of the 70-80 attendees on Monday were in favor of issuing a moratorium on STRs. The town also received more than 50 emails prior to the meeting, mostly voicing against a moratorium or any changes to STRs in general.

In favor
Speaking as a Pitchfork resident, not as community development director for the town of Crested Butte, Troy Russ strongly encouraged the town to put a moratorium on STRs to study the economic and neighborhood stability effects. “STRs have a profound impact on our neighborhood community, our neighborhood quality of life…STRs is not a property right, it’s a license…I believe we have too many STRs in town and we need to understand its impact because I think Mt. Crested Butte should be focused on creating community…”
Later, speaking on behalf of the town of Crested Butte, Russ explained that the CB council approved a moratorium on STRs earlier this month so the town could do a detailed housing study. He also reiterated his appreciation for the two towns’ continued collaboration, “We want to continue our pledge to work together.”

Patrick Church, Crested Butte planner, agreed. “Our houses are not being used for housing, so if we can make our houses available for housing we can take steps toward [solving] the housing crisis. But we can’t do that if they’re being used as hotels.”

Cooper McNealus said he is going to be homeless in about a week. “It’s really tough right now looking for a place to live and I want a fair shot just like everybody else…Right now I have to go through applications with 40 other people kind of listing our qualities so they can pick the best one and the free market is not in favor of anybody who’s lost their housing right now.”

Bob Colvey, who is on the HOA for Overlook, said the first question he gets from most interested homebuyers in that neighborhood is, “’Can I short-term rent it?’ Not, ‘can I become part of the community?’” He urged the council, “Pump the brakes, call a timeout, enact a moratorium.”

“I am not here to argue that one segment of our population is bad. I think all of these segments of our population are valuable,” said Laura Puckett-Daniels. “Visitors are valuable, part-time residents are valuable, full-time residents are valuable, newcomers and old-timers alike are valuable. What I’m asking is for us to consider all of these things. A community without the sugar borrowing, without kids on bikes and families barbequing, without waves to your neighbors and helping each other is not a community I want to be a part of. I’m not sure it’s a community any of us want to be a part of…If STRs continue to grow unchecked in Mt. CB then we may end up with one of those alternatives and for me and for most of us that is not why we’re here. It’s not why we move here, it’s not why we bought property here, it’s not why we visit here…we need a balance of these sectors in our community and we need time to plan proactively so all sectors can thrive. If we hit pause we can take a deep breath, talk to our neighbors and friends and plan for a community that, as best as possible, serves everyone.”

Korrie Armstrong told the council, “It has turned into a business, something they’re making a profit off of… It would take me 90 [STR] days to cover my mortgage. To say you need it year-round is a lie…I have to lock my doors every night because I don’t know who my neighbors are. I would like our community to be a community, not a bunch of hotels.”

Shaun Matusewicz agreed. “They’re operating as a business, they need to be paying the same operating fees and taxes that hotels do.”
“Changing the taxing on STRs from residential to business has to be done at the state assembly level,” Farmer explained later on. “We don’t have control over that. That’s not going to happen any time soon.”

“We need to protect people’s first investment before their second, third or fourth investment,” said Jennifer Kennedy, who noted the difficulty of living here paycheck to paycheck in the education field. “We chose to move here. I didn’t choose to go somewhere else and make a lot of money and then move to my dream community.”

Cass Rea asked the council to find a balance. “Consider what it means to live in a resort town with a plastic population. Currently it’s the Wild West and we have no cap and ability to deal with this stuff.”

“At the end of the day it’s very plain and apparent that all our businesses are struggling from lack of housing,” said Eliot Tilton, who shared his decision to halt Airbnbing his place to house a local long-term. “This is something very easy I can do, change my lifestyle a little bit, be more frugal with my money and help someone who needs a spot…Remember that just because you have one bad experience with a renter doesn’t mean that everybody is…There are a lot of people here in this community that have multiple Airbnbs, multiple short-term rental properties. Do you really need all of them?”

Amber van Strien explained how she continues to witness her neighbors and friends become displaced from her building, Chateaux, where seven bedrooms have been converted to STRs just this past year. “Owners are literally splitting up their condos to maximize the number of individual units they can list for maximum profit…Random strangers are opening the door to our home because they are looking for their hotel room.”

Brandon Johanns said the house he rents just sold and that he and his four roommates have yet to find a new place to live. We all work in town…We’re all at this time of year pretty stressed out…On top of that we’re pretty stressed out that we won’t have a place to live. I think we need to be protecting the mental health of our valley and the mental health of our community… If we do value the mental health of our community, that’s something we need to consider…I think we need to value the mental health of our community over investment of visitors.”

Lindsey Freeburn reminded the council that a moratorium would not impact current STR owners, it would just pause the issuance of any new licenses. “The entire country is watching us right now. You have this opportunity to make some really important decisions to protect the people who live here. You can get creative with this moratorium.”

Against
Dan Denbow, president of the San Moritz HOA, said he was somewhat disturbed that STRs have become such a divisive issue. “I think we bring a critical aspect to the economy so I don’t know why we’re under attack for this…We’re able to employ six full-time people and another three or four part-time persons on the housekeeping staff. If we were to only do long-term rental we would lose that benefit.”
“I’m angry,” said Karen Redden, who currently lives in the Emmons building because of the pandemic. “It’s not designed for long-term renting…it’s our long-term renters that are the problem in the community, not the short-term. Because of different lifestyles,” she said. There’s a core area here in Mt. Crested Butte that was never designed for long-term housing. We’ve created the problem by mixing the two. Look at zoning. There are areas that should not have a moratorium and some that should.”

Ted Gundrum explained that he long-term rented his unit at the Timberline Condos for four years. “I have to kind of painfully say that was probably the worst four years of damage done to our unit. It wasn’t that people were intentionally damaging our unit, it was just that they didn’t take care of it. There were a lot of repairs that we had to do that we wouldn’t have had to do if we had short-term rented it…now we’re to the point where I don’t think we’re going to rent it…I don’t want our investment to be damaged and have our renovation destroyed.”

Todd Barnes expressed his opposition to the moratorium. “I think you guys can do better than that. You have land and you have a revenue stream…A moratorium doesn’t magically solve the problem of long-term rentals nor does it create a conscience for the owner of the property, new or old, to put long-term rentals in there. You have revenue, I don’t think you’ve even scratched the surface, and you have land – put the two together and put in the horizontal infrastructure.”

Adam Moore reached out to the council by email prior to the meeting. “My family is 18-24 months out from being able to complete construction on a home, but we have to make commitments now to move forward. It is impossible to do that when we don’t know if we’ll be able to get an STR license a year or two from now.”

In another email, Ben Smith said, “We use our home periodically during the year and often come up on a whim (or sometimes last minute) or when our schedules allow us to plan and do so… we are not about to lock our home up in a long-term type rental that would preclude our flexibility or ability to use our home…our #1 priority is not to make it an income producing property (nor is it now). Our home alone contributes (an extra) $15,000+ plus per (non-covid) year to the local economy by way of the STRs…I fully understand that there is a local housing crisis… but it is NOT going to be solved by looking at or limiting private property second homeowners that did not purchase their property with the mindset of becoming long-term landlords…”

Kelli Jennings wrote, “Full-time residents who use their homes as occasional STRs do not impact the issue of dark homes in the community or the housing crisis since their homes would not be available for long-term rental anyway. Since this was a financial consideration for some of us who’ve made Mt. CB our home, I believe the primary residences should be considered separately from second homes.”

Council discussion
Council members each took turns voicing their thoughts, focusing on two main discussion topics: how to better regulate and enforce STRs in general (enacting a license fee increase to cover administrative costs and issuing a new penalty/fine structure) and whether or not to place a moratorium on granting new STR licenses.

“To me the town needs to probably create its own department, expand with one full-time or part-time individual who would oversee the licensing process,” said Steve Morris. “I’d like to see town have enforcement that actually goes out. A system where there’s some transparency for the community to act on the complaints and concerns they have. It’s a huge component to the quality of life conversation.”

Michael Bacani agreed. “The quickest and probably the most effective thing we could do is update the ordinance for fines, penalties and possible revocation of that STR license.”

Roman Kolodziej also agreed that the town needs to help affected neighbors better: providing addresses of STRs adjacent to their property, contact info, the parking plan, etc. “There should be a stronger penalty fee schedule and better tools for neighbors to advocate for themselves.”

Dwayne Lehnertz advocated for the town composing a standardized letter or form of communication to anybody who is renting a short-term rental. “Let them know there are certain courteous ways to behave in our community. If you’re expecting to come and party like it’s 1999 and if you’re in a condo unit that shares a wall with someone, well that’s not very courteous. Encourage people to embrace a Leave No Trace mentality.”

Farmer also wanted to prioritize regulatory issues, like increasing fees in order to hire someone to deal with STRs, parking enforcement and issuing a town noise ordinance.

Regarding the potential moratorium, Morris was open to a moratorium in a limited capacity that would have some leniency toward full-time locals. “I don’t think those types of people should be chastised or limited in their ability to do that.”

Bacani suggested looking at a moratorium from a zoning point of view, possibly outside of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

“I’m for a moratorium,” said Kolodziej. “I like the idea of outside the DDA. It needs to be made clear it’s not eliminating someone’s right to rent. It’s a pause. It won’t change the rules but what it would do would maybe hit the pause button.” He noted there should be exceptions, such as homebuyers who have already entered into a contract, and property owners or new construction projects that have submitted a complete application that has yet to be processed. “It’s not fair to basically pull the rug out from under somebody because they entered into a contract with a certain understanding of what they could do.”

“I don’t see the benefit that would be derived from a moratorium, maybe I’m missing something,” said Lehnertz.

Lauren Koelliker voiced her favor of a moratorium. “A moratorium does not mean no more short-term rentals and so I think there are a lot of details to work out here. I do support not issuing additional STRs for a limited amount of time. We need to be reasonable about who that applies to.” She agreed that looking outside of the DDA makes sense. “I’m not proposing we ban all short-term rentals but I’m not proposing that we should allow as many short-term rentals as people want.”

Nicholas Kempin wondered whether a moratorium on STRs would really help, as homes may just sit empty rather than be rented out long-term. “Their wealth is such that they don’t need STRs. They don’t need the STR income to make it pencil out.” Regarding people in the middle, “Some people use STRs to pay taxes or mortgage, for some it’s a retirement plan, for some people it’s a backup plan.”
“One of the problems to do a moratorium right now, we don’t have the staff in place to enforce a moratorium,” said Farmer. “Putting in a moratorium right now to me doesn’t make any sense because we can’t enforce it.” She noted she would consider it in certain areas or neighborhoods.

What about CBMR?
Johanns asked the council how CBMR was playing a role into all of this, explaining how shocked he was when he first moved here and got a job as a lift operator only to find CBMR doesn’t have any employee housing. “I was curious if there’s any sort of responsibility that CBMR has to find housing for their employees like the rest of Vail’s resorts in Summit County. I’ve always been so shocked that they don’t have that up here.”

“I promise you that all of us are very aware,” said Farmer. “They have made it clear they are not going to take part in that responsibility.”

Kolodziej explained that the council’s understanding is that CBMR would sign a master lease but they won’t build.

Regarding “CBMR’s complete absenteeism on all things community related,” Morris encouraged everyone to reach out to the new general manager Tara Schoedinger, who has voiced the importance of community and partner collaboration. “Send emails, call Tara, show up at her office…Get super, super loud with CBMR right now. Equally with the North Village. This is the biggest opportunity we’re going to get to get a huge lump of deed-restricted houses in the inventory.”

The council encouraged the public to come to the Mt. CB Town Picnic this Friday and the next council meeting on August 3, in which they plan to discuss the STR and housing topics further.