Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

Forest Hollow annexation talks continue
The Mt. Crested Butte Planning Commission began its deliberations and closed a public hearing over the merits of the Forest Hollow annexation sketch plan on Wednesday, August 5.

During the last meeting in June, developer Gary Garland decided to lower the maximum number of units in the development from 43 to 18, after several town residents had repeatedly voiced their concerns about the proposed annexation’s high density.
Garland first proposed the 8.8-acre annexation at the north west edge of town more than a year ago, originally with fewer than a dozen units. When discussions about the property resumed this spring he decided to increase the number of units on the property, based on Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s efforts at pursuing the Snodgrass ski terrain expansion, which might have a lift terminal land near the Forest Hollow parcel.
Last Wednesday, Mt. Crested Butte community development director Bill Racek says, the Planning Commission decided to close an ongoing public hearing on the annexation and begin deliberations among the board. Racek says the commission discussed several points, including access to the property, wetland buffers, a transportation impact fee similar to the one charged on developments in the Prospect subdivision, trail easements, and affordable housing. Rather than building affordable housing in the annexation, the commission proposed that Garland consider providing funds for affordable housing in the Homestead development in Mt. Crested Butte.
The commission also asked that the annexation be included in the North Village/Reserve Metropolitan District, a special taxing entity that will pay for infrastructure and roads in the North Village and Promontory (formerly the Reserve) developments.
Access to the parcel was also a sticking point for the commission, since it would have to be routed through CBMR’s Promontory development and thread past a conservation easement held by Colorado Open Lands. The Planning Commission asked Garland to obtain a letter from Colorado Open Lands giving overall approval to his access.
The commission agreed to resume discussions during the first meeting in September, allowing Garland time to produce a letter from Colorado Open Lands.
Last week Prudential Realty had the entire Forest Hollow parcel listed for $2.5 million.

Performing Arts Center taking shape
A joint effort between the town of Mt. Crested Butte and the Crested Butte Music Festival to build a new performing arts center is taking shape. This spring the town’s Downtown Development Authority decided to change its top priority from building an aquatic recreation center to partnering with the Music Festival in a building a performing arts facility. An official agreement between the entities is still in the works. The facility is estimated to cost $14 million, and the DDA has agreed to take on up to $6 million in bonds to finance the project.
The proposed site for the facility is the town’s Inn Site 2 parcel, currently a free parking lot at the corner of Gothic and Treasury Roads.
During last Tuesday’s council meeting, Mt. Crested Butte mayor William Buck said the town and music festival have been meeting regularly and the project is gaining focus.
He also presented the first draft of an agreement between the Music Festival and the town for the council to review. “We are ongoing with conversations with the Music Festival. The discussions have been very open and transparent and I think we are moving at light speed,” Buck said.
He said the Music Festival would be responsible for coming up with a design for the facility.
“The agreement we are hoping will be signed by the 28th of this month. I feel strongly we’ll get close to that,” Buck said.

Snodgrass not (yet) in NEPA
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest supervisor Charlie Richmond has not yet made a decision whether to accept Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Snodgrass expansion proposal into the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process.
Earlier this spring resort officials said the Forest Service had agreed to accept CBMR’s expansion proposal, provided the resort’s plans avoided some hazardous areas identified in a series of geologic studies of the mountain. The Forest Service had also asked the resort to measure the level of community support for the project, and for the past year CBMR has conducted surveys, sought local governments’ support, and held public informational meetings about the expansion.
In late June, after changing the expansion plans to avoid the hazards identified in the geology reports, the resort submitted an official request to the Forest Service to consider the Snodgrass under NEPA .
GMUG public affairs staff officer Corey Wong says it could still be a couple of months before the forest supervisor makes his decision. Wong says the Forest Service is still reviewing the resort’s Master Development Plan, which includes details on both the Snodgrass expansion and improvements to the main mountain, as well as development around the base area and the proposed North Village.
Wong says there are also additional details the Forest Service is asking CBMR for before NEPA will commence. “At some point the forest supervisor will decide whether to accept the Snodgrass proposal in NEPA. We know there’s going to be a lot of questions and concerns like ‘Where do we go next?’ But it could be months away. We will definitely have a news release when it happens,” Wong says.
CBMR vice president of real estate and development Michael Kraatz says, “We had a couple of meetings [with the Forest Service] and know they are reviewing the master development plan and the specific [Snodgrass] proposal and they want some more specifics on Snodgrass such as utility corridors, more details on building footprint locations, etc., which we are working on, but that’s about it for now.”