The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“The gray water system is gone”
An official notice of violation has been sent to Scarp Ridge LLC concerning work being done in the Irwin area on the so-called “Movie Cabin.” Gunnison County is giving the company until October 9 to complete “corrective action” over the violations.
Gunnison County Environmental Health official Richard Stenson inspected the site September 8 and found numerous violations with the county code. Among other things, the developers installed a graywater system without a permit.
According to Irwin Backcountry Guides (IBG) Mountain Manager Alan Bernholtz, that system has already been removed from the cabin. IBG is a subsidiary of Scarp Ridge LLC. The violations also broke the Crested Butte watershed ordinance.
Scarp Ridge LLC has purchased land in the Irwin basin and IBG is in the process of trying to get a U.S. Forest Service permit for a backcountry ski operation in the Irwin basin. The “Movie Cabin” is meant to be a base for the ski operation.
According to the notice of violation, “an ISDS incinerator toilet had been installed inside a small structure near the ‘Movie Cabin.’ The installation of the ISDS was in a building and location, which varied from the terms and specifications, contained in the application and permit.
“A graywater system has been installed inside the crawl space of the Movie Cabin,” the notice continued. It goes on to state that the county had not permitted the installation of such a graywater system, the system did not meet the setback requirements from the occupied building, the design of the system did not meet the requirements for a graywater system, such “vault” systems are not permitted in the county, and the construction of the ISDS did not follow the standards of the Crested Butte Watershed ISDS District.
Stenson’s notice gives the company until October 9 to take corrective action or else the county would initiate the formal cease and desist process and seek further penalties. The notice requires that the incinerator toilet be removed from the small building near the “Movie Cabin” and put it in “the agreed upon and permitted location” inside the “Movie Cabin.” The graywater system must be removed as well.
“The graywater system is gone,” said Bernholtz, who is also mayor of Crested Butte. “The contractors are dealing with all the issues brought up after the inspection. In fact, the contractors are dealing with everything. They are relooking at the entire project.”
In Stenson’s notice of violation, he makes it clear that “no occupancy or occupational use of the ‘Movie Cabin’ shall be allowed until a final inspection and approval of the ISDS has been given by Gunnison County.” He also states that that there may be other “Gunnison County Land Use and Building Permit violations pertinent to the ‘Movie Cabin’ that should be addressed.”
Crested Butte Public Works Director Rodney Due and Town Manager Susan Parker are inspecting the site Thursday. Under the town’s watershed ordinance, the town must monitor any activity in the watershed that could affect water quality. No notice was ever given to the town by Scarp Ridge LLC or IBG.
