The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Red light, green light, goofy factor…
With the admission of frustration flying from every corner, the Crested Butte Planning Commission and proponents of the proposed Foothills annexation have agreed to try one more meeting to address every outstanding concern and to settle differences before the commissioners vote on the sketch plan proposal. That meeting will be held Tuesday, October 13 and is expected to last from 4 to 8 p.m. At least one commissioner, Billy Rankin will be absent from the meeting due to other commitments.
A public hearing that was continued from last week was held Monday evening, September 28. Town Planner John Hess told the commission, which is made up of Town Council members, that he had received “new information today from the annexors.” He said he had not had time to read it all.
Planning Commission chairman Alan Bernholtz was not amused.
“Why is it every time we have a meeting, the proponent changes things at the last minute?” he asked. “Come in with a good plan. It seems like every time there’s a meeting, there’s a new twist. How is the commission supposed to act responsibly when the plan is constantly changing? Come to us with a final plan where we can go through the elements and either give a green light or red light. I am frustrated.”
Hess tried to defend the developers and the process. “They are trying to respond to issues you raised or the staff raised,” he explained. “But I’m not even sure what the current plan is.”
Foothills attorney Aaron Huckstep was on the same page as Bernholtz. “We feel the same frustration,” he said. “We are trying to respond to the concerns from the town and there is frustration all around.”
“I’m not mad at anyone,” responded Bernholtz. “I’m mad at everyone. Go back and come up with a plan that’s really close. Bring us a plan that needs a few twists of the screwdrivers or turns of the wrenches to work. You know where we’re at.”
“We’re not sure where the Planning Commission is at,” retorted Huckstep. “We thought we were close and have been surprised by some of the comments made by the Planning Commission. If we didn’t think we were close, we wouldn’t have submitted the sketch plan.”
The sketch plan calls for approximately 158 units on 44 acres between the north border of town and the cemetery. With credit for some offsite mitigations, the plan is made up of more than 51 percent deed-restricted affordable housing.
Bernholtz admitted the plan had come a long way in 15 months. He also pointed out that several of the people on the commission who had spent 15 months deliberating the plan would be gone after the November election 36 days hence.
Commissioner Skip Berkshire agreed with Bernholtz; he wanted a plan with elements to which he could give a green light or red light. “But right now the lights are flashing all over the place,” he said. “We need something more solid.”
Commissioner Leah Williams echoed the feeling. “My concern is we get too much at the eleventh hour and it doesn’t respect the process,” she said. “I spent time preparing to talk about the previous changes and then another revision came in today. That doesn’t help anyone.”
Lead Foothills attorney Jim Starr suggested a marathon meeting. “Having two-hour meetings doesn’t help,” he said. “I think the next step is a four- to six-hour meeting where we sit down and go through all the places we don’t agree on.”
Commissioner Billy Rankin pointed out that while Starr gets paid to come to the meetings, Planning Commissioners would be donating their four to six hours of time.
Resident David Leinsdorf said he was concerned that the town staff had already invested so much time in the annexation process over 15 months that the staff might feel an obligation to keep moving forward with the plan despite negative public feedback.
“This proposal can’t comply with the Crested Butte Area Plan,” he said. “The subdivision regulations need to be changed. Zoning needs to be changed. The proponents admit they overpaid for the property. Frankly, they are trying to make chicken salad out of chicken s***. The process is broken because the project is broken.”
Town Manager Susan Parker and Town Attorney John Belkin took umbrage at Leinsdorf’s suggestion. “I respectfully disagree with David,” Parker said. “The staff is spending its time working on the technical aspects of the proposal with the annexors and not negotiating anything value-oriented with the proponents.”
“You are flatly wrong, David,” added Belkin. “The staff is not negotiating with the developers on any policy decisions. That’s all up to the Planning Commission.”
“I think it is time to have one more big meeting and be done with it,” said Bernholtz. “Billy is right. The Planning Commission doesn’t make a dime. We do it for the benefit of the town.”
As part of the public hearing, resident Alex Fenlon spoke in favor of generally annexing the land to town. “Maybe it is not this project and obviously it is contingent on the old dump, but I want to see the town succeed and I think that probably takes growth. I want to live here forever. This area is the place to put growth,” he said.
Resident Jim Schmidt voiced concerns with the town possibly selling the developers public land near the bus barn as part of the deal. “I haven’t heard that discussed much,” he said. “Selling town property seems a reversal of policy, since normally the staff is looking for more town land.”
Bernholtz said that was one of the many moving targets in the proposal.
The public hearing was then continued until October 13. “The goal is to make a decision by eight o’clock that night,” said Bernholtz. “But I know how we can get, and if we can’t make a rational decision and it seems we are getting too goofy, we reserve the right to postpone it again.”
The October 13 meeting will start at 4 p.m.
