The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Three phases to take several years
The Crested Butte Town Council has a lot of work to do in the next two months to be ready to close on the purchase of the Kochevar property north of town by June 30. The work began Monday, April 19 with a look at a draft for a conservation easement that will eventually be held by the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT). The idea is for the land to be recreational open space. The town will eventually own the 313 acres of property that runs up the Slate River Valley.
The details of the transaction have to be approved by the town, the CBLT, GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado), which is donating millions of dollars toward the project, and the Trust for Public Lands (TPL), a national organization that is fronting the money for the Kochevar purchase.
The town will take over the property in stages. Phase One is set to close June 30 and will involve the town taking title to 166 acres of land. Three million dollars will be refunded to the TPL; $1 million is from the town’s Real Estate Transfer Tax and the other $2 million is from the state’s GOCO fund, which is raised through lottery sales.
Plans are for Phase 2 to be completed by February 2011 and will involve 107 acres. The final 40 acres will be transferred to the town from the TPL when sufficient funds become available.
Total cost of the property was $5.3 million.
The council began the work of fleshing out conservation easement provisions at the Monday work session. Generally, the town would like to allow access to the Kochevar parcels for the public through trails; however, easements must still be worked out through nearby properties. It is hoped pedestrian access is available through the adjoining subdivisions and through the county’s Smith Hill Road. Cattle grazing would be okayed and camping is a maybe.
The council quickly prohibited such things as development and mining on the property. Motorized vehicles will be prohibited, as will commercial signage, pavement, structures and timber harvesting.
Guides might be able to access the property, but a small outfitter’s fee will likely have to be purchased. The council will consider the idea of allowing some hunting on the land. Initial thoughts were that if hunting is allowed, it would be for hunting by youth or by physically challenged people.
“There is a lot of work we have to go through so I would expect to see something about this project on the agendas for at least the next three meetings,” said Town Planner John Hess.
The council will work on the conservation easement, a management plan and other needed documentation. More meetings will be held over the next several weeks.
