CBMR gets initial nod on base area

Pedestrian bridge, building height are sticking issues

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is heading into the final planning stage for the proposed Mountaineer Square North development. The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council approved the preliminary plans for the development following a public hearing on Tuesday, June 17.

CBMR real estate and sales director Michael Kraatz gave the council an overview of the recent changes to the plans, including a major re-design based upon CBMR’s recent branding study. He also noted some of the Planning Commission’s requested changes had not yet been made. “The plan you have tonight does not reflect those conditions. We wanted to wait for your input first and will incorporate the changes and conditions as part of the final plan,” he said.
Kraatz then introduced Mountaineer Square North lead designer Chris Dunn to give a building-by-building presentation of the plans to the council.
Mountaineer Square North is comprised of six main buildings, including the town’s proposed aquatic recreation center, and several smaller buildings. The plans include 402 residential units, 834 parking spaces (in garages), a 10,000-square-foot conference center, retail and restaurants, office space, and affordable housing, located at the site of the resort’s current main parking lot. The town is listed as a joint applicant, due to its responsibility in designing and constructing the proposed recreation center.
At the hearing, public concerns centered on a pedestrian bridge depicted in the plans, the overall height and mass of the buildings, and whether additional residential units were necessary. Most of the concerns were brought forth by unit owners in the Chateaux condominium complex. The town also received several letters from Chateaux owners regarding the pedestrian bridge (some in favor and some against) and building heights.
Dunn gave an overview of how building heights were measured, and compared their final height in relation to the elevation of Gothic Road. Dunn explained that compared to the road, only the proposed hotel building on the southern end of the development would be taller than the Grand Lodge. Dunn also noted that the Grand Lodge has a flat roof, and all of the proposed buildings had varying angles of roof-lines.
Dunn said CBMR had no intention of funding or constructing the pedestrian bridge between the Chateaux area and Mountaineer Square North, but was willing to prepare a site for the bridge to land on their property. “If we were to make it part of our application we would have to bring in the (homeowners association) of Chateaux. We really don’t want to do that,” he said.
Town planning consultant Julie Ann Woods once again suggested a pedestrian bridge. “I think people will be surprised how much it will be used,” she said. She said successful resort communities have multiple access-ways, but Woods admitted that the pedestrian bridge would be premature to build early on in the development.
Council member Mike Kube said the idea looked good on paper, but wouldn’t necessarily turn out that way. He said the council should include the bridge in the design, withholding the option to remove the bridge during the final plan stage.
Regarding the number of residential units in the plans, Kraatz said before any of the units in the development were built, CBMR would evaluate their market potential.
Woods also listed the conditions of the development that needed to be changed based on the Planning Commission’s recommendations, as well as additional conditions staff was suggesting.
These included CBMR adding Wi-Fi capability to the development; adding landscaped islands of refuge in key locations along Gothic Road; and hiring a retail sales consultant, “so we’re comfortable about the amount (of retail) that is proposed, and setting a minimum and a maximum allowance.”
Sale said CBMR had issues with a few of the proposed conditions, but was fine accepting the rest. The first was the condition that CBMR install a roundabout at the intersection of Gothic and Treasury Roads during the initial phase of construction. Sale said CBMR was strongly against doing this until traffic counts warranted the improvement. He said CBMR was already placing itself at financial risk because residential sales from the first buildings would not be able to cover the cost of building the three-story parking garage below.
Woods said the town’s traffic consultant, Bill Fox thought the tolerance levels CBMR was considering in their traffic counts may not apply to resort communities—the tolerance for bad traffic being much lower. Therefore, she said, the roundabout may be needed earlier.
Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick also said an extensive amount of dirt work and re-grading of Gothic Road would need to take place to build the roundabout, and it might be better to keep that close to the initial construction site. He said it would also give visitors a sense of arrival to the resort as construction progresses. The council voted to leave the condition in.
Kube said he appreciated CBMR’s financial concerns, “but this is like a poker game. If you want to ante you need to have the cash.”
Sale said safety islands along Gothic Road had been discussed during previous meetings with the Planning Commission, and both the commission and CBMR were in agreement that they were a bad idea.
Council member Bill Babbitt agreed that the islands were not necessary, and could complicate snow removal.
Kube also agreed and said, “They’re great in summer, but terrible in winter.”
Sale also was against the idea of hiring a retail consultant. He said CBMR would prefer to be given guidelines to set the level of retail, but they did not wish to hire an expensive consultant to make the decision. He said during the final review of each specific building the amount of retail should be analyzed.
The council generally agreed. Council member Gary Keiser said the resort should be asked to do a retail assessment, but a consultant should not be necessary.
Community development director Bill Racek advised, “The town doesn’t have a lot of retail square footage, hence not a lot of sales tax, either. This is your last chance to have a retail environment.”
After discussing that several detailed recommendations would ultimately be made during the final plan stage, such as a comprehensive parking management plan, the council unanimously agreed to approve the preliminary plans for Mountaineer Square North.
After the meeting, Sale said CBMR was glad to have reached the final stage. He says once the plans were re-developed based on the recent branding study conducted by the resort, many agreed they were much better, and it showed in the speed of the completion of Planning Commission and Town Council approval process.
He said CBMR hoped to be back before the Planning Commission with changes incorporated into the final plans in early August.